Bussdaberria

The Independent State of Bussdaberria is a sovereign state in eastern Sarpedon. The country is bordered to the north by Caphiria, Valcenia to the west, northeast by Dyamenes, east by Qustantistan, to the southwest by Carnazza and to the southeast by Eloillette. Roughly eighty percent of Bussdaberria is mountainous. The country is one of the most culturally diverse in make-up nation in all of Sarpedon region as a result of the Treaty of Kartika in 1953.

The Regency Council has taken over power in the country in 1996 after the death of the last King, resulting in a decades long disputes over the line of succession. The Regency Council was dissolved in 2007 after a series of failed elections occurring in the country infusing massive protests in favor of democracy and devolution of the state into a more local level; in retaliation the military under the auspices of state emergency granted dictatorial powers to prevent the collapse of the country. Barely keeping in control most of the country and following the unopposed independence of Eloillette to the south, a general retreat was ordered to curtail dissent primarily to more defensible(and valuable) areas. At this moment, Bussdaberria is a failed state as the central government; National Defense Council recognized as the caretaker and transitional government by most of the international community is barely in control of the country suffering civil strife for more than twenty consecutive years as warlords,separatist & terror groups and crime syndicates have taken over functions similar to state-hood in sections of the country.

Bussdaberria ranks as the lowest in both life expectancy and human rights from most international organizations.

Treaty of Kartika
On May 19th, 1953, representatives from the belligerent nations arrived in Kartika, Kiravia to sign the end if the Great War.

The Treaty of Kartika enlarged the Independent State of Bussdaberria(formerly the Grand Principality of Greater Avamax, the Imperial Crown Colony of Bussdaberria & the Dominion of l’Oríellade d’Onísa etc) a total of 67 percent. However of the 23 million inhabitants resided in the territories annexed via the treaty, less than a quarter of the who lived in the annexed territories were Levantines, while the rest were a myriad of ethnic minorities who either lived as national minorities or residing in states of their own.

A total 13 million new inhabitants were therefore consigned to the new enlarged successor state. Despite the declared objective of the arbiters of post-war peace to redraw the map in Eastern Sarpedon according to Professor Wilson MacNamara, "the principle of self-determination cannot be erased with a pen on a map even if bayonets enforce it". According to modern historians, it prophesied the fragility of such a nation-state building. The census of 1912 classified residents in the Imperial Crown Colony of Bussdaberria alone by their native languages and religions affiliation, so it presents the preferred language of the individual, which may or may not correspond to the individual's ethnic identity. To make the situation even more complex, in the multilingual annexed territories with ethnically mixed populations where people spoke two or even three languages natively. While several demographers state that the outcome of the census is reasonably accurate, manipulations of Levantization had been attempted.

The Treaty of Kartika specifically defined new borders primarily in order to transfer the vital railway lines that ran through these areas to the latter states for easier exploit and transfer of natural resources. Post-Kartika Bussdaberria increased 90% of the engineering and printing industry compared to pre-war census, while a reasonable 11% of timber and 16% of iron was increased. In addition other increases, 41% of arable land, 46% of public roads, 75% of canals, 62% of railroads, 64% of hard surface roads, 83% of pig iron output, 55% of industrial plants, and 67% of credit and banking institutions now lay within the new territories. New borders also bisected transport links the railway network running along the newly defined borders and interlinking radial transport lines, ended up in different highly introvert with Άvamax as its center. Hence, much of the rail cargo traffic of the neighboring emergent states was virtually paralysed. These factors all combined created some imbalances pushed by Bussdaberria's autarkic measures to create a single economic unit with mixed success on specialization.

Disseminating economic problems had been noted as a serious potential aftermath of the treaty. This opinion was not taken into account during the negotiations. Thus, the resulting uneasiness and despondency of one part of the concerned population was later one of the main antecedents of the collapse into the next century. Unemployment levels were dangerously high, and industrial output dropped by half. With the creation of customs barriers and protectionist trade policies, the economic growth and outlook in the region sharply declined,ultimately culminating in a deep recession.

The Treaty of Kartika also banned military conscription in the newly Independent State, stipulating that the all-volunteer Local Defense Volunteers could recruit no more than 35,000 soldiers(It didn't include the Royal Constabulary or police service restrictions), and also prohibited the country from purchasing (but not manufacturing) tanks, armored vehicles and war planes. The treaty also specified that the Independent State of Bussdaberria would have to respect these stipulations for a 30-year period grace beginning in 1954 followed by the steady demobilization and withdrawal of both foreign and domestic 290 thousand strong men-at-arms.

The Assembly of the Commons gladly accepted the treaty pushing for faster post-war reconstruction efforts but the House of Lords reluctantly ratified the treaty on November 15th, and enacted the treaty into law twenty days later.

Post-War Reconstruction
After the treaty took effect and resulted in a starving of capital in former independent regions, which led to a deep recession. A fifth of the rural population could find no work, and industry was in no position to absorb them leading to disintegration and massive revolts that would be crushed by violent means.

The Terror
During this period of nearly 9 years, Bussdaberria was an authoritarian democracy with a functioning multi-party parliament, though with significant restrictions on civil liberties and political pluralism. The main objectives of governments functioning in the new kingdom: in domestic terms, to strengthen a neo-feudal Levantine Catholic foundation and keep its territorial integrity intact; and, in subsequent terms, to contain the spread of communism & separatism as various revolutions sprung up. In order to achieve the latter objective, military operations that formed so-called "detachments" (Certifié chasseurs de têtes) in order to conduct reprisals for the Red Terror that had claimed thousand lives in the region by the Red Peasants by the Soviet Republic and other warlords. With the passive compliance of the authorities over 400,000 reported to either died or suffered force relocation.

Following the end of the war, Albert Werkner was appointed defense minister by the royal government, formed in liberated Άvamax. As head of the counter-revolutionary forces, he began raising the LDV in June of '54 with the objective of crushing all opposition. In order to oversee the formation of a new government and national legislature that would possess both the domestic and international authority necessary to legitimately ratify the post-war peace treaty. Assigned the task of persuading foreign armies to freeze their withdrawal in order not to cede control of territories to revolutionaries - alas with mixed results as in some cases even veteran armies couldn't stem the tide of all-out peasant and political revolts.

The LDV was tasked a mission beyond its capabilities, to occupy the military demarcation lines in Tuzla. Following a Red Peasant attack along the Ilhamaniev, causing the collapse of retreating allied armies and subsequently occupied Lukata Valley that had come under the control of the National Army. The LDV began to systematically requisition railway locomotives and wagons, industrial machinery, medical equipment and food in cities under the pretext of securing the campaign. The act was enforced, entailing extreme crisis and contributing to a famine.

It is speculated the government instituted the program of food requisitioning, ostensibly to attack local seperatist/nationalist movements. Whilst the communist revolutionaries instituted a violent collectivization programm of similar ferocity, depriving persons of their properties, a large proportion of peoples attempted to escape from each other region only to be shot by opposing forces. Rendering the peoples of Bussdaberria with no means of survival. These poor administration policies and the lack of relevant general management. Significant amounts of grain remained unharvested - a contradicting image considering Bussdaberria was in a position to export grain not suffering from famine.

Recent
Bussdaberria suffers from an ineffective government, famine, disease, piracy, militant extremism, and frequent external intervention.

It DABS ON TULCEA PACT LIKE A BIG BOSS

Po litics & Government
Officially, the politics of Bussdaberria function within a framework of parliamentary democracy and a federal system of parliamentary government with strong democratic traditions. A constitutional monarchy, in which the monarch is head of state. The executive powers are directed by the Cabinet on behalf of the Crown, a committee of ministers of the Crown responsible to the elected House of Commons chosen and headed by the Prime Minister.

The bicameral Parliament of Bussdaberria consists of three parts: the monarch, the Senate, and the House of Commons.

Currently, the Senate, which is frequently described as 'colonial version' of the House of Lords, has 75 members members of the nobility that are granted their position by the nation's monarch. It was created with equal representation from all provinces. However, it is currently the product of its current political instability, since the Senate has not been in session since 2012 effectively branding all laws passed by the House of Commons as "emergency laws".

The House of Commons currently has 338(12 of which represent Eloillette) members elected in single-member districts in a plurality voting system, meaning that members must attain only a plurality (the most votes of any candidate) rather than a majority (50 percent plus one). However, the House of Commons has the capacity of 596 but due to the collapse of the country and their subsequent occupation remain unrepresented.

In practice, Bussdaberria is a securocracy. The security apparatus dominates the political landscape of the country. Securocrats are officials located in the security establishment--the police, intelligence services and the military--that have the power to influence government policy in their favor despite popular opinion. They dominate government decision-making also use the armed might of the state to suppress their political opposition. Although in Bussdaberria's case, it is the security apparatus that still holds together the semblance of a state.

Military
Railway Divison which under the Ministry of Transportation, the Ministry of Civil Protection contains the police and fire department services. Ministry of Public Order has under its control the Royal Constabulary which is the gendarmerie. The Ministry of Interior has under its control Local Defense Volunteers, my homeguard militias. Ministry of Commerce controls the Coast Guard & BATFEC(Bureau of Alchohol, Tobacco, Firearms, Explosives & Cults). Ministry of State Security has the intelligence and secret police. The Ministry of War runs the military mostly while the Ministry of Defense runs defense oriented units(AA formations or coastal defense) logistics and military production surely creates confusion but it also balances the fact so no person can retain too much power and try to overthrow the government - at the same time focus their energy on their projects as a war government.

Foreign Relations
Bussdaberria is treated as a pariah state

Healthcare
Bussdaberria's healthcare facilities are largely owned and operated by the government.

Most of the population under 67 is insured by their or a family member's employer, some buy health insurance(dual insurance) on their own, and the remainder are uninsured(or partially insured). Health insurance for public sector employees is provided by the government. The National Health Agency(government's insurance and healthcare service) is the government insurance that functions as medicare and medicaid although. This policy was adopted at 2013, subsequently the collapse of the state; prior to the nationalization of healthcare and insurance services it was provided by the private sector but it was no longer viable.

The life expectancy of Bussdaberia was 85 years in 2005. Since then no research has been conducted on the subject

According to international health organizations, it spends more on healthcare than industrialized nations in the world. It still suffers, having one of the highest or near-highest infant mortality, heart and lung disease, sexually transmitted infections, adolescent pregnancies, injuries, homicides, and disabilities in Sarpedon.

Red Cross has opened up operations across Bussdaberria in order to assist individuals who have inadequate access to medical facilities. The Red Cross facilities are primarily located in non-government controlled areas of the country, although movable hospital camps are also stationed near cities to deal with the disenfranchised urban populations of the country. It is estimated ten thousand members from Red Cross agencies throughout the region operating within Bussdaberria at any given time of the year.

Economy
The majority of scholars who studied the performance and organization of the Bussdaberrian economy have come to some critical conclusion.

Although Bussdaberria in the past was frequently regarded as a regional power because of its more than 50 million inhabitants, this was by no means the case when considering the economic perspective. Compared to other Sarpedon nations, it had limited economic resources. Low overall production levels and income were due to the high variation(economic specialization) in economic development among the kingdom's regions. Some regions were highly industrialized, like Άvamax, whose income level corresponded more or less to Urceopolis, while others had just started industrial development effectively remained substantially lower than foreseen estimates. Therefore, Bussdaberria's gross domestic product (GDP) per capita remained significantly lower than that of the aforementioned countries. This average, which would not have mattered as much under conditions of peace, became extremely relevant during the collapse because it represented the potential that could be used to fuel military efforts.

Despite more than two decades of civil strife, the national economy has survived as an informal economy, based mainly on livestock, smuggling of counterfeit production of various contraband materials. Classified as a fourth world nation, due to a dearth of formal government statistics and the civil strife, it is difficult to gauge the size or growth of the economy outside government controlled areas - oppossition groups are unwilling or unable to release date (accussed by the government tied with the cartels). The country's collapse created a breeding ground for criminal organizations. Gunrunning, illicit drug smuggling, para-production of prescribed drugs are considered the norm in most non-government held areas resulting a response to combat the threat of organized crime with brute use of force against any associates in order to crack down the problem using the various security agencies to 'spook' said organizations with mixed results.

The Άvamax controlled areas in the other hand resemble an economy closely of First World nations in contrast. Private investment in commercial activities have been largely financed internally but remain limited, and includes trade and marketing, money transfer services, transportation, communications, industrial equipment, airlines, telecommunications, education, health, construction and hotels.

The former first world rate of Bussdaberria is both a blessing and curse. In turn provide for much of the population means to survive the onslaught but on the other, providing the means for the multitude of beligerent groups both the necessary resources and expertises to expand their military operations in home soil prolonging the war further.

Geography
Mountains in Bussdaberria don't soar to the heights of other mountain ranges they are extensive. In fact, about 60% of Bussdaberria is covered with mountains with the result that most settlements were less than 10 miles from a mountain. These mountain ranges effectively isolated the country from the rest of Sarpedon effectively than fences because what they lack in height they make up with steepness and ruggedness preventing or discouraging overland travel and communication.

No matter where people settled, Bussdaberria rarely faced a shortage of fresh water even today. Compared to many countries, there is a real abadance of rivers, often smaller ones dry up to a trickle in the hot summer months(Being close to equator mixed with cloudiness, in the peak of summer in mid-July to early August). Still, the existence of plentiful supply of fresh water springs makes hot summers "bearable". Still, they are considered precious and life giving and it is not surprising that they were considered to be sacred sites in ancient times. It prides itself as a nation hosting the largest total renewable water resources, much of this source currently wasted.

Geology
Despite its small surface area, Bussdaberria is endowed with a particularly rich and diversified natural environment, with unique geomorphology, intense contrasts and many regions with great aesthetic value. The country’s abundant natural “gifts” – imposing mountains, caves and gorges, lakes, rivers, biotopes of rare beauty and unique ecosystems, coupled with the mild climate, ranked amongst the ideal tourist destination.

The number of lakes is figured around 169. A figure frequently cited in travel guides there are as many 13 rivers, thousands of small idyllic settlements are said to be dotting the countryside.