Veltorina

Veltorine People's Republic Populi Republicae Veltorinum
1782–1953
Flag Coat of arms
Capital	Constantinopolis Borealis
Capital-in-exile	New Malavia (1953-2014)
Common languages	Latin, Istroyan
Religion	Levantine Catholicism (1782-1864) Secular (1864-1953)
Demonym(s)	Veltorine
Government	Absolute monarchy (1782-1864) Dictatorship (1864-1892) Single party parliamentary state (1892-1953)
State Basileus
• 1933-1953	Tiberius Heraklonas
History
• End of Veltorine War of Independence	1782
• End of Great War	1953
Population
• 1950	195,747,329
Preceded by Succeeded by File:HekuFlagNew.png Caphiria Caphiria File:HekuFlagNew.png Veltorine government-in-exile
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The Veltorine People's Republic was a country in northeastern Sarpedon from the end of the 18th through the middle of the 20th centuries.

Beginning in the medieval period, the eastern provinces were sites of constant political, social, and religious upheaval. Unlike other parts of the country, much of Veltorina retained a fierce devotion to the Catholic Church after the adoption of Imperial Catholicism, creating a vast religious divide between the eastern and western parts of the nation. The Catholic Church, though underground, retained a great deal of influence over eastern society. Those residing in the eastern provinces, additionally, were far more likely to have some partial degree of Istroyan descent rather than the Latinic majority of western Caphiria. The social and religious divide was compounded by the distance of the provinces from Venceia, which, in the pre-modern era, struggled with supply and reinforcement issues. As a result of all of this, Veltorina developed a national identity related to, but independent of, the Caphirian people.

Gaining independence from Caphiria after the long Veltorine War of Independence from 1769-1782. Established by the landed class of former eastern Caphiria, the nation was a largely rural and agricultural country for the first half of the 19th century, and contemporaries noted the excessive level of social stratification between the class of planters and serfs. The Tyrian Revolution in 1864 seized control of the Republic, becoming the first socialist state of its kind in the Occidental world. Following a period of rapid industrialization, which alarmed both Caphiria and Urcea, the revolution came to a functional end and the state became stable with the creation of the office of State Basileus in 1892. A relatively modern and industrialized country, Veltorina was a great power prior to the Great War. Invaded by Caphiria during the conflict, it became a primary front of the conflict and saw heavy involvement of the Armed Forces of the Apostolic Kingdom of Urcea before it was ultimately annexed by Caphiria at the end of the war. Following its annexation, it became the modern provinces of Thessia, Leonia, Amarsia, and Sennium, the so-called "Four New Provinces". The Veltorine government-in-exile continues to exist, and from 1953-2014 it enjoyed residency in Dorhaven, where it attracted large hosts of Veltorine emigres.

Government

Following the Constitution of 1892, Veltorina was governed, nominally, as a single party parliamentary republic with federal characteristics. While the ruling Socialist Revolutionary Industrial Progress Party (SRIPP) was the only party allowed to exercise official government responsibilities, the legalization of freedom of assembly in 1892 allowed the formation of "interest groups" who, although all members of the SRIPP, functionally formed rival organized political factions. Whether or not the state was a single-party state in actuality has been an object of considerable debate among historians and political scientists. Although upstart political parties directly at odds with SRIPP were brutally repressed, the ideology of the SRIPP itself was essentially dependent on whichever faction was ascendant. A majority view among scholars is that the SRIPP essentially functioned as a quasi-democratic government agency rather than a political party, essentially making Veltorina an imperfect multi-party democracy.

The Constitution of 1892 created five main organs of state. Replacing Veltorina's earlier, quasi-Jacobin executive committee, the Constitution provided for a State Basileus, serving as head of state and de facto head of government as well as head of the armed forces.

The State Basileus served at the pleasure of what the Constitution called the "key state institution", the Vanguard of the Socialist Revolutionary Industrial Progress Party, commonly referred to just as "the Vanguard". The Vanguard was comprised of eleven individuals who served as the official head of the SRIPP, and the State Basileus served as Chair of the Vanguard. The Vanguard was not a legislative body as such but rather was responsible for the absolute direction of party policy, endorsing or prohibiting positions which party members might take within the context of government. In theory, the Vanguard was intended to serve as the "soft moral guidance for the State" to ensure the "absolute integrity of Veltorine socialism", but in practice the Vanguard typically served as the front line for inter-party factional disputes. Victors within these disputes would often have enough power to replace the State Basileus. Critics of this system have described it as "allowing for unending chains of palace coups", while the systems proponents have likened the process to no confidence motions in more traditionally democratic systems. The Vanguard served as the ideological, and ultimately constitutional, nerve center of the State. Members of the Vanguard, besides the Basileus and Convocation Speaker, were chosen or reaffirmed at annual party congresses, and it was an institution created by the 1892 Constitution.

The chief legislative body of Veltorina was known as the National Convocation for the Socialist Movement and it was created by the 1892 Constitution. It oversaw the "regular" law and administrative code of State and was responsible for amending the Constitution. In practice, the National Convocation could not propose, adopt, or otherwise pass measures that the Vanguard prohibited Socialist Party members from approving. As such, though it was constitutionally enshrined as the national legislature, it largely served as the main administrative body of the country but a body of secondary political importance. The 357 members of the Convocation were elected by a nationwide vote with a mechanism allowing for proportional regional representation, with the formula for apportionment changing every term. The terms lasted five years and members could not serve consecutive terms, though non-consecutive terms were extremely common. Any member of the SRIPP in good standing was eligible to run for the Convocation. The Convocation, each term, elected a Speaker, who served as the presiding officer and also served as a member of the Vanguard.

Theoretically independent from the government but key to its functioning were the annual party congresses, and in particular institutions known as Assembly of the Socialist Movement, which were held as the voting plenary session mechanism of senior party officials from throughout the country. The Assembly, which had been the primary decision-making body of the State prior to 1892, had no authority to change party doctrine or ideology but were solely responsible for selecting or removing members of the Vanguard. The senior members voting within the Assembly were those chosen by the Party Prefect for each Prefecture.

The final key government organ were the Prefectures, the territorial division of the country. The Prefectures had two senior officials; the "State Prefect", an administrative role appointed by the Convocation, and the "Party Prefect", the political head of the Prefecture who had "veto" power over the State Prefect. Party Prefects were elected by mass assemblies of party members in good standing, and served until removed from office by any subsequent mass assembles, which were held irregularly. The Party Prefect was nominally responsible for interpreting and directing the ideological initiatives of the Vanguard within the Prefecture, but in reality most Party Prefects attempted to sway the position of the Vanguard. The Party Prefect held the ability to direct the State Prefect's actions, and also appointed individuals to vote at the annual party congress.

Culture

Like Caphiria, Veltorine society was highly stratified. Although the institutional significance of ordo was less pronounced in Veltorina and traditional distinctions in social rank began to blur not long after independence, there nonetheless remained a clear hierarchy between the latifundial aristocracy and the peasant majority. A large percentage of the latter were serfs until the abolition of serfdom in 1843, and a smaller percentage were held as slaves until 1897 - a source of constant scandal for a self-avowed "socialist" state.