Volonia: Difference between revisions

Following the conclusion of the [[Second Great War]], Volonia was governed by a {{wp|military junta}} proclaimed as the official governing body of the provinces towards the end of the fighting. This junta, which referred to itself as the "Liberation Government", an ostensibly temporary body, was really a slightly reformed version of the United Volonia Movement established by [[G.C. Lorenzo]]. Given the coalition nature of the Movement, cracks began to form even before the official end of hostilities. By January 1943, General Timotei Nicolescu managed to become the Chairman of the Liberation Government, and began to immediately coalesce power. Nicolescu, who had represented Volonia at the [[Treaty of Kartika]], was hailed by the people as the leader who finally lead them to independence following four centuries of Caphirian domination. He used his popularity to first launch a political purge of the left wing of the United Volonia Movement, with key leaders and local organizers of the Socialist Party of the Volonian Nation (SPVN) arrested on the night of 22 March 1945. Following the purge of the left, Nicolescu sought alliances with the right, securing the support of the Catholic Party as well as a number of groups who sought the establishment of a [[Levantia|Levantine]]-style monarchy in Volonia. Nicolescu managed to dominate these groups, and eventually purged them as well on 4 November 1949. By 1950, Nicolescu ruled Volonia unopposed, taking the title of President on 1 January of that year. Nicolescu also assumed the title "Tribune of the Revolution" and reorganized the United Volonia Movement as a formal political party under his direct control. His two titles would be later consolidated as "National Tribune" in 1955.

The Constitution of 1970 took effect on 1 July 1970 following a year and a half of formulation. The 1969-70 Constitutional Convention included many of Torje's military allies, but the majority of its members were legal scholars, diplomats, and a few clergy. The Constitution was largely based on the governing systems of [[Pelaxia]] and [[Cartadania]], instituting a moderately liberal democracy in Volonia. Elections were held in June 1970, and Torje was reelected as National Tribune and the United Volonia Movement won a plurality of seats in both houses of the legislature. Following his election, Torje formally resigned his military command and transferred authority to a non-UVM Minister of Defense, signaling a partial transition of power in the country.

Volonia's modern period is traditionally attributed to the victory of the Justice and Progress Party, the first party besides the United Volonia Movement to elect a National Tribune in the history of the nation. The first decades of this period largely focused on institutional reforms. The incoming Justice and Progress Party found that, though the nation had shifted to democracy, many state contractors and benefactors of public projects had been politically connected UVM members or their friends and allies, and as a result, the nation's institutional outcomes were weak in many sectors, including healthcare, education, and the economy. The significant infrastructure investments from abroad in the 1950s had been largely consumed as {{wp|Graft (politics)|graft}}, leaving the nation's rail networks, ports, and highways in much worse condition than the public was even aware of. The 1990s in Volonia saw a dual focus on new investments in these sectors as well as a sweeping and controversial anti-corruption campaign. The UVM and other minority parties criticized the mass firings and investigations as politically motivated witch hunts. Several highly publicized incidents of Justice and Progress Party members investigating and prosecuting their political enemies were recorded, but by 2000 most international observers suggested corruption in Volonia's political administration had been greatly reduced. Infrastructure, education, healthcare, and other similar social institutions had been greatly transformed in the intervening decade and a half. Despite these successes, the often caustic approach of the Justice and Progress Party to reform alienated many voters who sought normalcy and stability, and the United Volonia Movement won a landslide victory in 2002. With corruption having been mostly eliminated, the Justice and Progress Party became victims of their own success, as reform issues were no longer a winning political issue. The party dissolved in 2010, with many of its key constituencies moving to the rival United Volonia Movement or the upstart Commonwealth Party.  

The decade and a half of reform lead to significant social and cultural changes within Volonia, as the economic returns of democracy and liberalization finally came to fruition in the early 1990s. This era saw the rise of major sports leagues within Volonia as well as the levels of disposable income necessary for the pursuit of popular media forms, including a television and novel writing boom in the mid-1990s. During this period, popular [[Music in Urcea|Urcean music]] began to spread to the country, becoming popularized and adapted by local artists.