Stenza

Republic of Stenza
Flag
Motto: Saolotoga e ala i le Faamaualuga! "Freedom through Pride!"
Anthem: None, previously the Song of Gratitude to The Party
Capital and largest city	Rakahanga
Official languages	Stenzan
Recognised national languages	Stenzan Corummese
Ethnic groups (2020)	76.3% Stenzan 23.2% Corummese 0.5% Other
Government	Federal presidential constitutional republic
• President	Iakopo Hsin
• Vice-President	Filemu Lung
Legislature	Stenzan Democratic Congress
• Upper house	First Council of the Stenzan Democratic Congress
• Lower house	Second Council of the Stenzan Democratic Congress
Establishment
• Tribal Era	???? - May 3rd, 1742
• Colonization by Corumm	May 3rd, 1742
• Independence	August 2nd, 1921
• Republican constitution	September 24th, 2020
Area
• Total area	2,045,702 km2 (789,850 sq mi)
• Water (%)	0.59%
• Total land area	2,033,633 km2 (785,190 sq mi)
Population
• 2021 estimate	47,214,812
GDP (nominal)	2021 estimate
• Total	$1.39 trillion
• Per capita	$29,482
HDI (2021)	0.691 medium
Currency	Stenzan Dollar (s$)
Driving side	right
Calling code	+816
Internet TLD	.st

Stenza, officially The Republic of Stenza, is an island country in Australis. It does not have any land borders, although the Escal Isles lie just off its eastern coast. Its capital and largest city is Rakahanga.

Little is known about Stenza's early history, with most of the country being governed by independent tribes until Corumm discovered and colonized the island in 1742. The following colonial era saw Stenzan society develop from its tribal roots into a more modern puppet state, ending in a brief period of semi-self governance during the early 20th century. A bloody war between Stenzan freedom fighters and the Corumm-aligned government followed between 1919 and 1921, resulting in A Corummese retreat from the Island. An internal struggle for power followed Stenzan Independence, ending with the rise to power of the Stenzan People's Party. The party had total control over the nation from 1922 until late 2019, with the country being largely isolated from the rest of the world. This changed when the Stenzan revolution removed the Party from power and paved the way for the Republic to form.

The Republic of Stenza is a young Federal presidential constitutional republic, its head of state is the recently elected Iakopo Hsin, a charismatic public servant who was the Second Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs under the Party's rule. His Vice-President is Major General (ret.) Filemu Lung, a career intelligence officer who played a vital role in orchestrating the Stenzan revolution. Stenzan legislature is through its Democratic Congress, although the President holds the right to bypass the congress through presidential decrees.

Although historically weak economically, Stenza is currently enjoying an economic boom after opening up to new foreign markets. Both the export of Stenzan metals and the birth of a tourism industry have helped develop Stenza's economy in recent times. Although politically oppressive until recently, Stenza has a history of being socially progressive. Stenza has a high degree of gender equality, with women being fully integrated into fields such as the military. Certain soft drugs are legal and freely available in Stenza, although buyers need a bi-monthly approval from a licensed physician to avoid addiction.

History

Pre-Colonial Era

Little is known of the first inhabitants of Stenzan land or where they came from, with the little history that existed of this time being wiped during the Corummese occupation of the island. It is known that the native population of the island used to live together in tribal communities before the Corummese colonized the land, the tribes forming occasional trade alliances or fighting each other over minor territorial disputes. It is commonly believed that all these tribes shared a common religion, although any history of this religion has been removed in the 19th century.

Colonial Era

The colonization of Stenza almost stared by accident, when a Corummese vessel captained by Xi Haoipong suffered a major scurvy outbreak and decided to deviate off its course to find land. The land they found turned out to be Stenza, and upon returning home the crew reported of their findings. The land they had discovered was deemed interesting enough for another expedition, and within two years a Corummese community had been found in the cape of hope on the northwestern part of the island, named after the fact it brought hope to the ill sailors who discovered it. The Corummese called this city Xīwàng (Hope), but is now known as the regional capital Faamoemoe (Hope).

Corummese exploration beyond the initial settlement at Xīwàng was met with curiosity and then hostility from the local tribes, who did not trust the foreign settlers. A four decade long push into the country followed, and by 1786 the whole island was under Corummese control, with the native population being subjected to the choice of compliance or death. It is estimated that up to half the native population died during this period.

Over the course of the next 100 years the island was transformed into a rather modern mining colony, Stenzan's vast supply of metals such as Nickel and Iron being exploited by the Corummese colonizers. The local population was forced to follow Corummese culture and by 1887 the nation was a Corummese puppet state headed by a Stenzan governor named Noa Zhu. Although seemingly self-governing, Zhu was nothing more than a Corummese puppet while the nation was still ruled with a tight grip by those back in Corumm.

The next three decades were not per se bad for the Stenzan population, who enjoyed all the technological and social developments the Corummese brought to them while their land was still being exploited. Regardless of this progress, the native population was still treated as a second rate class to the Corummese colonizers, who enjoyed considerable wealth based on the labor of the Stenzans.

Independence and Civil War

Things changed rapidly for the Corummese puppet state in 1919, when a young Stenzan officer in the colonial army named Li Xhipong shot his Corummese commanding Colonel and revolted with his mostly native company. Other Stenzan units within the colonial army followed suit, and soon the Corummese and government loyal Stenzan forces were facing a well organized army of ~10,000 Stenzan soldiers who had defected from the colonial army. (The Colonial army at the time was made up of segregated Corrumese and Stenzan forces, with Corummese senior officers leading the Stenzan units at the field level.) This military force, called the Free Stenzan Army, retreated into the hills and fought the Corummese forces through asymmetric warfare, raiding military caches and arming willing civilians as they went. By the time the first regular Corummese reinforcements arrived, the Free Stenzan Army counted nearly 30,000.

A bloody war was fought over the next two years, with Corummese colonial and regular forces trying to flush out the growing independence fighters. As the war carried on, more and more Stenzans saw their opportunity to turn on their colonial overlords and public unrest became the norm, with Corrumese colonizers retreating away from their holdings to hide in cities under tight Corummese control. The war was bloody for both parties, with many Stenzan irregulars dying at the hands of more organized Corrumese units.

The war was eventually decided in the Battle of Xīwàng, when Stenzan irregular and regular forces massed overwhelmed Corummese defenses during a civil uprising among the workers inside the city. Corummese naval vessels, two freighters and a destroyer unloading supplies in the port, were captured by the attacking forces and a lot of the Corummese elite hiding in the city were captured and murdered in a widely filmed event. The fall of the Corummese capital on Stenza cut the Corummese army off from its supply chain, and after failing to retake the city on two different occasions the Corummese forces surrendered on the 2nd of August, 1921. This date was later to be known as the Day of Stenzan Independence. Stenzan independence was followed by a long month period that saw the defeated Corummese leave the island along with the majority of the colonizers, a period known in Stenzan history books as the exile of the humiliated.

All was not well for the Stenzans after chasing out the Corummese, for the celebrations of their independence were short lived. The young Lieutenant who had caused the independence movement, Li Xhipong, was hailed by many as a national hero and was to be the first leader of a free Stenza, if it were not for the rapid rise of the far left leaning Stenzan People's Party and their assassination of Xhipong. Over the next seven months, Stenzans who backed the Party and various groups who did not fought over the rule of the island, with the Party eventually coming out on top in April 1922 through the cunning military leadership of Hemi Hidao. Hidao would end up being the first chairman of the Stenzan People's Party and the leader of the country.

Totalitarian Regime

Hidao's rise to power was followed by six years of civil unrest called the pacification, this period was characterized by the party's consolidation of power throughout the country, the swift and public assassinations of anyone who doubted the Party and its ways, and the total isolation from any foreign influence by expelling all foreigners, aside from re-educated Corummese who had elected to stay after the war. Between the start of the Independence war and the end of the pacification in 1928 an estimated 35% of the Stenzan population died. (WIPWIP MORE TO COME!)