Montanakan Republic

The circumstances of this Republic's birth are unique, to say the least. A last-ditch effort to save not the Empire, but its values, would, in a twist of fate, be the thing to kill both. In the year of the Divine 1248, the Imperial Advisor on Military Affairs, Generalmajor Soghomon Baghdasarian, would lead his Army into the Chambadzor Hold, supported by the other Ministers of the Imperial Bureaucracy. The Mountain Emperor would be found dead, the Prince Imperial would be put into house arrest (and later exile), and Baghdasarian would be free to mold the mountains around his ambition.   While he is a rather radical reformist, the Generalmajor is no democrat. With the support of the Army and the Bureaucracy, he himself would write the revolutionary "Charter Of Reorganization". Here, the core four branches of Montanakan government would be established, and Imperial nobility would be abolished. Under the latter reform, citizens of the Republic could no longer hold noble titles and their lands would be redistributed (this redistribution is covered in more depth within the Territories section of this article). However, the Republican government would welcome these educated and experienced former Barons into the new Republican government, helping to establish the country's Political Dynasties. This Charter also guarantees the citizens of the Republic the rights of property, equality before the law, and assembly. De jure, the Charter also grants rights of speech and press, although Republican crackdowns on political opposition through the use of secret police and press controls limit these. Additionally, all male Montanakan citizens over the age of 30 are able to vote in septennial elections to the Premiership and quinquennial elections to the Republican Congress.   The office of Premier is far and away the most powerful within the Montanakan Republic. His powers and duties include the ability to promulgate laws passed by the Congress, assemble, head, and organize his Cabinet, grant pardons, declare states of emergency and martial law, create the budget, mobilize the All-Republican Armed Forces, declare war, sign treaties and publish executive orders which can have practically boundless reach. These expressed powers, as well as the de facto powers over government the Premier's personal influence and influence over the ruling party grant, make the Premier a dictator in all but name. The nation's secret police force, the Republican Guard, responds solely to the Premier. For the nation's entire history thus far, Soghomon Baghdasarian has been the Premier. He has swept every election (helped by the fact that no one has dared run against him) and his wide reform plan and dynamic personality have created a personality cult. While the Generalmajor has done a lot of good for the citizenry, one must be reminded that he is also a near-absolute dictator who has never been afraid of exiling or killing political opponents and using strongman tactics to keep his party in line.   Second only to the Premier in political power is the Republican Congress, though it is a wide gap between first and second place indeed. 122 Congressmen are elected by those in an electoral district every five years through a two-round system. When in Congress, every delegate has a single vote, which is used to vote on proposed legislation (which is then either signed or vetoed by the Premier), approve the Premier's budget and Cabinet, and amend the Charter Of Reorganization. Since its foundation, the Congress has almost entirely been controlled by the "Miut’yan Yev P’rkut’yan Komite" (Committee of Union and Salvation) and more or less serves as a rubber stamp for the decisions made by the Premier and the upper echelons of his party. The MPK itself is devoted to the ideals of republicanism, economic populism, meritocracy, and social centrism. A few opposition parties have been allowed to run by the MPK government, but none of them have ever gotten over 10 seats, and those that are even allowed to make it into the Congress at all are little more than puppets of the greater political machine.   Like those within all "democratic" nations of Ecumene, the Montanakan Republic's constitution calls for a proper judicial branch of government. In line with this, the highest court of the land, the Supreme Republican Court, primarily concerns itself with the legal issues of government. These include the official and legal interpretation of the Charter and how it affects government actions, the adjudication of criminal and impeachment cases for high-ranking government officials, and, of course, the supervision of all the nation's courts. The 12 Justices on the Supreme Republican Court are all nominated by the Premier and then approved by the Republican Congress.   The fourth and final branch of the Republican government is the "Republican Civil Commission". The Civil Commission is responsible for the proliferation of the State Examinations (a holdover from the Prefectural days) and the validation of those who pass the exam thereafter. Much like the Imperial Prefecture of Sakarzor, the Montanakan Republic maintains a proud Dwarven tradition of meritocracy, though instead of putting asterisks besides this as their rivals do, the Republicans have near totally embraced it. Before entering the Republican bureaucracy or officer corp, one will need to take a State Examination, a massive test on mathematics, culture, history, and either statecraft or warfare, depending on the career path of the individual. In the days of the Ancient Empire, this test was locked behind a paywall, but it is now free to all Montanakan citizens and freely distributed to all villages every three years. In addition to distributing the State Examinations, the Civil Commission is also responsible for paying the Republic's civil servants, training them, and recommending them for promotions. Their last duty is, perhaps, the most important. Before any Montanakan citizen can run for any elected office, the Commission will run a background check on them to ensure that they are free of corruption and incompetence, though also to ensure that they are loyal to the Republican government. Only after an individual is approved, they can run. The Civil Commission itself is a council of 9 appointed by the Premier and approved by the Congress.   As stated before, the Republic has abolished landed nobility and traditional noble titles. Local governments are now controlled by elected councils, not the local Baron, but this is not to say that the former nobility has lost all power. Many Barons and their families had already taken the State Examination or were educated enough to pass it easily, and with a lack of too much of a true civil servant class in those early days, they were able to cement themselves within the new government. Commoners and businessmen who followed soon after would undergo similar cementation, and in due time, powerful Political Dynasties centered around educated families would emerge within the Republic's highest halls. However, they are distinct from the noble class of old. These Dynasties are highly educated and highly-skilled, allowing them to stay in power as well as they do even as the commoners of the nation became educated and a large middle class has emerged. This is not to say they cannot be removed, though, as the intra-party politics of the MPK are cut-throat, and one bad move can send you out of office and someone new in.

The territory of the Republic is divided by the Sickle Gulf. On its Western shore, the mighty Chambad mountains rise above the earth. Chambadzor, the region (and city) that owes its name to the mountain range, is a land of history. It is where feudalism and the Empire of Great Mountains were born, and it is where the Empire would die at the hands of revolution. To this day, the city of Chambadzor serves as the seat of Republican power, its governmental organs and most important citizens hidden within the architectural marvel that is a Dwarven Hold. The Hold itself has been carved into the World's Crest Mountain, the largest on Ecumene. However, most of the city's people will only seldom enter into the Hold, as they live within the urban sprawl that has spread across the valley which rings around the World's Crest, this valley itself being ringed by other mountains.   While the region of Chambadzor is mainly a mountainous one, it also produces most of the nation's food. Three primarily agricultural regions are found here: the Southern Foothills, the Central Valley Region (a large area of valley land nestled right in the middle of the primary Chambad range), and the Coastal Stretch (a wide tract of land that goes from coast to coast, separating the main Chambad range from an exclave in the North). Out of all of these, the Coastal Stretch is the most productive, as it is the largest, followed closely by the Central Valley due to the presence of the Kasagh River (and, in small part, the Nevern) there. Prior to the Redband Coup, all farmland within the Empire was owned by nobles, but the Premier soon rectified this. While they would be allowed to integrate themselves into the new Republican government, all nobles would have their titles stripped from them, their lands would be taken by the government and sharecropping would be banned. Afterward, this land would be sold off to commoners, with no functional limit on what one could buy, so long as it was used as farmland. This has created a mixed system of yeomanry and corporate farm ownership, with a smattering of co-operatives mixed in. However, the institution of a land value tax to rein in these corporations has made the agricultural market competitive and has allowed smallholders to not only survive but in quite a few cases, thrive. The most commonly grown crop within the nation is wheat, followed by potatoes and sugar beets, although most agricultural land in the country actually serves as grazing land for goats.   To the East of the Sickle Gulf rise the Hayas Mountains. As the Loyalist cause fractured during the Deluge, the Prefecture of Hayaszor would declare its independence from the Empire as the "State of Hayaszor". It was an Absolute Monarchy under Lord-Protector Tigran Narekian Ter-Vardaran, by and large, a failed state. The nation and the Prefecture that came before it, unlike Chambazor, were unable to feed itself in any capacity. Famine gripped the country even as it tried its best to invite foreign trade and capital and after the Lord-Protector's sudden, unexpected, and early death of cancer in 1260, civil conflict gripped the country. Supporters of Imperial annexation fought in the streets against supporters of Montanakan annexation, and the two competing countries almost went to war over this. However, before anything could get out of hand, Republican forces would storm the Hayaszori Hold, executing the government there and welcoming Montanakan annexation. In due time, the Hayas mountains would be entirely integrated within the nation's unitary system. While the effects of the famine have long passed, Hayaszor is still a good bit poorer than its brother across the Gulf, relying on both Chambadzor and foreign nations for food. However, its excellent industrialization has proved a boon to the internal and global economy.   The Montanakan Republic is, in all respects, a modern and industrial nation. In addition to the cities of Chambadzor and Hayaszor, many others have grown up in the Advanced Steam Age, including Akhterzor, a mountain city situated in the tiny Akhter Mountain Range (commonly considered to be an exclave of the Chambad Mountains), Sevijan, a city in the Chambad foothills, and the port cities of Vardurat and Tumis, situated on the West and East coasts of the Sickle Gulf respectively, that connect the two halves of the Republic. Due to its heavy industrialization and populist economic bent, the MPK government has granted its millions and millions of factory workers and miners many protections, although their quality of life is still not great. Striking is illegal, but a decent, though not great, minimum wage has been put into place, working hours within the Republic are not cruel, pensions for the disabled and retired are distributed by the government, days off on Second-Day and Third-Day are ensured, and child labor has been banned. The Republic's moderately extensive pension program is primarily funded by the profits gained from its state-owned railroad and public utility corporations and is supplanted by a legally enshrined system of Trinitist Charity. The wealthy of the Republic are legally obligated to give a divinely mandated 5% of their monthly earnings to the government, which then, with the cooperation of the Cult, distributes it to Montanakan citizens living in poverty. The Republic is the only Trinitist nation that has scripturally demanded almsgiving as a legal obligation and government program rather than a personal decision.

The All-Republican Armed Forces are an honored organ of the Montanakan state. It was the Army that led the march into the Chambadzor Hold, it was the Army that ensured the people's loyalty, and it is the Army that defends the Republic's borders from the Imperials. It is the singular part of the government that is free of Political Dynasties, being entirely meritocratic, and very skilled due to it. The country has a system of universal conscription of all men over the age of 25 and up to 45 for six months of military service, meant to defend itself from perceived Imperial aggression. The nation also has a very competent officer corp, all of whom have studied passed the "State Examination For Entrance Into The Officer Corp". After passing the test, one can either become an officer or be attached to a unit as a commissar. Commissars ensure loyalty to Republican values within their unit, making sure that a military coup along the lines of one that brought the Republic into existence can never be used to tear it down.

The Republican economy is primarily an industrial one based around the mines and logging fields within the mountains, lending it a heavy amount of industrialization, supplanted by the modernization that comes from the Dwarven race's entrepreneurial culture. The mountains are cut through by railroads, electrical telegraphs allow for easy connection with the rest of the world, and the cities of the Republic, including her Holds, are electrified. While Dwarves can ride the rails through Dyffryu to get to the other side of the country, the ferry connection between Vardurat and Tumis is also quite popular. However, modernizing the nation's oftentimes dangerous country roads has been hard, even as agriculture is mechanized. They twist and turn on the edges of mountains, causing llama carts difficulty and slowing export rates because of it. As of current, the government is stuck into a program to clean and smooth out these roads, but it is very slow going.

As the Dwarven race is devoutly Trinitist, the Orthodox Trinitism is the official state religion. While explicitly Trinitist language has been removed from Republican legal codes, Trinitist moral policing and punishments are still in force. Despite its major role in the death of what many see as the last hope of a Trinitist World State, the Cult's ecclesiarchy has good relations with the Republic due to its public stance of Pan-Trinitism and state mandation of Trinitist Charity. However, as the Cult has always aspired to be above the geopolitics of the mortal realm, it recognizes both the Republic and Empire as sovereign, drawing the ire of both, but none can speak against He who speaks with the voice of the Gods.

While the Montanakan Republic has no close allies, it is cordial or even friendly with most nations on Ecumene. Ever since the Deluge, the Republic and the Spring Coalition (Dyffryu and Qadjik) have carried on good relations. They fought with one another against the Loyalists, and despite Premier Baghdasarian's personal prejudices against the Gnomes, the web of international trade ties them together. In exchange for foodstuffs, the Republic exports its ores into the valleys and plains, cementing a very profitable partnership.   The bottomless mines of the Republic are also a boon to other nations, such as Lievonija, Meridie, Dourado, and Sylvania. While not tied as close, these states all recognize the sovereignty of the Republic, something that the Imperial Union State does not. It is the belief of the Imperials that Republican traitors killed Emperor Arrajnord, and that the Generalmajor's act of betrayal is far more of an insult than anything the nationalist forces could ever had hoped to do. Just as the Empire refuses to recognize the Republic as a sovereign nation, the Republic does not recognize Imperial control over Zingitar and Sakarzor.   To that end, the Foreign Secretariat consistently espouses Trinitist Internationalism and Pan-Trinitist thought. It is the ultimate and very public of the MPK party to reunite all Dwarves, Tengu, and Men under a racially harmonious republic, Gnomes, Centaurs, and Dracons be damned. However, it is a different story internally. The years have taken their toll, and pragmatism has won out. In the modern-day, the Republican government has taken to encouraging Dwarven nationalism amongst its people, highlighting the achievements of the Dwarven race and their unique culture, all while making a show of internationalist devotion on the world stage.