Florencia

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Union of Florencian Social Republics (UFSR) Velorénsia 4 other names Belyaruthen: Flarencyja Sajuz, Flarencyja Native Florencian: Fosuautikka Kanosoni, Fosuarika Elyrian: Velorénsia Zhenian: 벨로렌치아
Flag Coat of arms
Motto: She seeks with the sword, a quiet peace under liberty
Anthem: So Long Glorious Motherland
Capital	Sankt-Vera, D.F.
Largest city	Serrapole
Official languages	None (de facto: Belyaruthen)
Other languages	Achysian, Zhenian, numerous other native languages
Ethnic groups (2019)	23.3% Mixed Race 22.6% Elyrian Florencian 18.6% Slavic Florencian 15.5% Zhenian Florencian 8.2% Other Auroran 7.9% Other Minorities
Demonym(s)	Florencian
Government	Socialist Federal Semi-Presidential Republic
• Princeps	Rias Antonia II
• Chancellor	Maxim K. Tyroll
• First Secretary	Gabriela Kontic
Legislature	All-Union Congress
• Upper house	Senate
• Lower house	Assembly of the People
Unification
• as the Velorénsian Empire	December 1, 1866
• as the Union of Florencian Social Republics	November 2, 1919
Area
•	6,523,955.2 km2 (2,518,913.2 sq mi)
• Water (%)	2.21%
Population
• 2019 estimate	212.0 million
• 2019 census	212,113,831
• Density	32.513/km2 (84.2/sq mi)
GDP (PPP)	2019 estimate
• Total	$7.132 trillion
• Per capita	$33,621.2
GDP (nominal)	2019 estimate
• Total	$7.231 trillion
• Per capita	$34,110.3
Gini (2019)	37.7 medium
HDI (2019)	0.910 very high
Currency	Florencian Ruble (FLR)
Time zone	UTC-7, -6, -5, -4 (Florencia Western Standard Time (FWST), Florencia Mountain Standard Time (FMST), Florencia Central Standard Time (FCST), Florencia Eastern Standard Time (FEST))
Date format	dd-mm-yyyy
Driving side	right
Calling code	+12
Internet TLD	.fl/.flor/.florencia

The Union of Florencian Social Republics (UFSR) has come a long way from it's desperate origins as a small patchwork of partisans, patriots and oppressed peoples. The Florencian Union rose from the ashes of an autocratic empire and forged a socialist federal republic that now takes its first hesitant steps into the greater world. It is a union of free peoples created to uphold the inalienable rights of life, liberty, and property. And an expansive defense force and well armed populace exist in order to defend these rights from future invasion—both foreign and domestic. As of yet the UFSR has enjoyed near complete isolation from the rest of the world due to its previous revolution and subsequent reconstruction. Florencia is great in both population and free spirit and she eagerly marches towards fulfilling her destiny on the world stage.

History

Traces of the Florencian state originates with the native peoples of the central New World. Disparate sedentary empires and nomadic tribes among the mountain peaks, temperate forests, grasslands, and deserts of the present day UFR would have entered a post-classical stage of development featuring distinctive metallurgy, booming cities, and a limited comprehension of writing language by the 1100's. Technological progress and population expansion would only boom with the introduction of Zhenian horses and paper. Later East Asian contact with the central New World would see the growth of commerce on the continent with the establishment of Zhenian trade cities by the late 1500's. Ultimately the peak of Zhenian interaction with present day Florencia would see the establishment of a colony; the Viceroyalty of Shinjin, which would reach a mature stage of population development and government by the late 1700's, solidifying a sizable East Asian population in the eastern UFSR.

Native interaction with the Auroans would be less fruitful and see the forced establishment of a Thracian colony in the western portion of Florencia, a direct counter to East Asian ambitions in the East. Whereas eastern Florencia would experience a more nuanced synthesis of native and East Asian populations, the west would experience a dominated hierarchy by the Aurorans and forced Elyrianization. The less habitable grassland interior of the current Florencian nation would be left to nomadic natives that would steadily be infringed upon by foreign settlers. The discovery of gold in the Thracian colony would prompt a sponsored series of immigration from Slavic peoples to toil the land, send resources back to the empire, and further displace the native population that had been wracked by war and disease. This would be a trend that would continue well into the existence of the current Union state.

During the 1780's the Zhenian viceroyalty would rebel from the mainland and organize itself as an independent republic. The same would be said of the western Thracian colony, where in the early 1800's unrest at home would see a bloodied revolution establish the Velorénsian Empire. Velorénsia itself would be the Elyrian translation for Florencia, which is itself a bastardized synthesis of both the native name for the nation and the Elyrian translate. The drawn out revolution that created the Velorénsian Empire might have begun with enlightened republican ideals, but was hijacked by a minor Thracian noble and brilliant tactician who would go the way of a Napoleon and capitalize on unrest, disorder, and exhaustion to crown himself Emperor and Autocrat. The Emperor of Velorénsia would end up marrying the exiled princess of Elyria. Both the first Emperor and later his son would expand and consolidate the realm, gobbling up the independent eastern former Zhenian colony by the 1860's in an event known as the War of Unification.

The Velorénsian Empire by the 1900's had become a cosmopolitan state with a sizable Zhenian minority on the East Coast, a thoroughly Elyrianized West Coast, and a large number of Slavs, natives, and other Auroran migrants everywhere in between. Growing agitation with a despotic emperor would led to the Empire's entry of the first world war on the side of Zhenia, no doubt with the hope of unifying the nation and getting rich off the war. However famine, pestilence, monarchical disconnect with the populace, a type of serfdom share-cropping system, a tanked economy, and imperial performance in the war ending horribly would lead to a relatively quick revolution that would depose the Emperor and see the establishment of the Union of Florencian Social Republics in 1919. The events of 1919 are categorized as the Great Revolutionary War.

This new Florencian state would be influenced by enlightenment republican ideals and early socialist/syndicalist thought, synthesizing into the homegrown ideology of social republicanism, rejecting such ideas as blood and soil and idealizing this new doctrine as the foundation of the nation. The fabric of the UFSR would be woven by a multi-ethnic fabric of citizenry from a diverse religious, ethnic, and racial background all united behind the ideas of life, liberty, and property.

Politics

The statue of Mother Florencia stands proudly before the "Congressional Building" that is the center of the legislature in the capitol city St. Catherine, D.F.

The Florencian Union considers itself a democratic socialist federal republic; in the sense that the republic controls the commanding heights of the socialist market economy. According to the Declaration of the Freedoms and Rights of the People, it is the patriotic duty of the population to partake in democracy and specifically the workers, farmers, and petite bourgeoisie to manage the economy. State control of heavy industry, decentralized and democratic-self management of light industry, affirmative action, welfare, and entrepreneurship exemplify the socialist market economy. Government management and regulation of the economy alongside the expansive welfare state provides for the commonwealth of the Union, uplifting the worker, farmer, and all other laborer to an equitable proper standard of living.

The Declaration of the Freedoms and Rights of the People was a statement adopted by the Constituent Revolutionary Congress in representation of the whole of the Florencian people. The declaration formalized the intention of the revolutionary patriots to form a republic and espoused the inalienable rights granted to the people. This decree issued amidst the conflict of the Great Patriotic Revolutionary War helped shape the basis of the Union. According to the constitution, the principles of freedom and liberty enshrined in the declaration have constitutional value. The Constitution of the Union, which bonded together the many different guerrilla states and factions that arose in coalition during the revolution espouses a firm commitment to the peoples life, liberty, and property within the framework of a republic. It also details the capacity of the federal government, lists a bill of rights, and organizes the whole of the democratic socialist federal republic, while explicitly outlining a separation of powers divided among three branches of government in the Montesquieu model.

Government

All-Union Congress

Congress of the Union assembled during a joint session in the Congressional Building.

The legislative power is invested by the Florencian people and entrusted within the bicameral All-Union Congress. The upper house of the Congress constitutes the Senate of the Republics which represents the constituent social republics within the Union, whereas the lower house; the Assembly of the People, represents the whole of the Union.Senators and representatives to the Congress are elected to a term of six and three years respectively, with a limit of four terms each. All nation-wide elections for the All-Union Congress of the Florencian Union (as well as the Chancellor) are compulsory, universal, and done by secret ballot for all persons over the age of 17.

The Senate is comprised of 36 senators; that is, three senators per social republic, chosen through individual republic-wide, universal direct elections. The Senate is an advisory board to the Troika, approves supreme court justice and first secretary nominations, as well approves bills passed by the Assembly of People.

The Assembly of the People is comprised of a total of 800 representatives. 700 representatives are elected on the basis of mixed-member proportional representation, with one representative per 400,000 people in trans-republican constituencies. Public organizations such as the trade unions, national academies, Pioneer Scouts, recognized religious institutions, and the armed forces elect representatives to 100 reserved seats. The Assembly regulates both foreign and union commerce, admits republics into the Union, creates laws, power of the purse, and can investigate, scrutinize, and impeaches the Chancellor, among other duties.

The Troika

Princeps Rias Antonia II and her T-72E Wolf tank on patrol.

The "Grand Florencian Palace", once home to the Emperor, is the residence of the Chancellor.

The Florencian Union is governed by a troika of three men; the Princeps, Chancellor, and First Secretary.

The Princeps is a ceremonial head of state position granted to the patriarch or matriarch of the Antonia family for life, or until they step down. A holdover of Florencia's imperial era, the Princeps is the first among equals whose only duties as outlined in the constitution is to appoint the First Secretary and to maintain themselves as a "patriotic, respectable, and responsible symbol of the Florencian people, their history, their culture, and their nation." However they often mediate debates between the other two troika member and occasionally command the All-Union Guard's Armored Cavalry Regiment, should they have completed proper training and service within the Union Army.

The Chancellor is the Union's head of government and nominally the most powerful person within the country. He/She is elected via an electoral college to a five year term and is only eligible to serve two terms consecutively. The role of the Chancellor as outlined in the constitution is the purview of foreign and constitutional policy; that being the negotiation of foreign treaties, nominating justices to the Supreme Court, appointing the Attorney General, Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Secretary of War,and all other positions deemed by Congress to be necessary and proper.

The First Secretary is appointed by the Princeps from whichever party or coalition commands a majority in the Assembly of People. Their term lasts the extent that the Assembly of People is in session (3 years), though they can be removed or replaced at anytime should they lose the commanding confidence of the party in power. Their duties are implementing domestic policy and the regulation of the socialist market economy and capitol. To that end they appoint the secretary of the interior, the secretary of finance, and all other commissions or offices needed for the basic administration of the state.

The Judiciary

The Palace of Justice, home of the Supreme Court of the Union.

The Supreme Court of the UFSR is the highest court. Supreme Court justices are nominated by the Chancellor and approved by the both the All-Union Congress and the First Secretary before serving for life, or till retirement. The constitution stipulates that there shall be a limit of 17 Supreme Court justices, with one holding the post of Supreme Justice. The Supreme Court is granted the authority by the people to interpret the Constitution, interpret law, and the broad authority of judicial review over the Troika and the All- Union Congress.

Constituent Republics

The Florencian Union is a federation of constituent sovereign Social Republics. Some of these republics represent homogeneous titular nationalities or cultures, others are a grouping of heterogeneous minorities or slim majorities of different peoples that have ultimately emerged as distinct from other republics. These republican governments can follow a federal structure such as the Social Federative Republic (SFR) of Athicar and be further broken into autonomous states to politically represent the diverse peoples and groups living under such the state, or be an unitary entity such as the Social Republic of Aydakho. The executive head of a Social Republic is the president and each republic organizes it's legislature into a bicameral assembly mirroring the Union's own, though a select few republic's have adopted unicameral legislative. Besides retaining their own government, republics are guaranteed their own respective judiciary forces and provide contingents to the Army National Militia.

Republic	Name	Capital	Population
1	SFR Athicar	Krastal	78.7 million
2	SR Belyaruthena	Kharyv	11.2 million
3	SR Bithynia	Nikongrad	5.6 million
4	SFR Decatur	Praha City	42.3 million
5	SR Aydakho	Twin Springs	3.6 million
6	SR Galitsiya	Huliaipole	20.6 million
7	SR Evangeline	Edessa	23.8 million
8	SR Sosona	Righeira	4.5 million
9	SR Makedon	Pella	4.2 million
10	SFR Trans-Owhyee	Oreana	6.7 million
11	SR Polaine	Katowise	29.6 million
12	SFR Shinjin	Shinyang	67.4 million

Military

The Florencian military is at the forefront of the world's armed forces, it is a well oiled, well motivated machine fueled by an extensive military-industrial complex. The Chancellor is the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Union Defense Forces (UDF), National Militia (NM), and Republican Guard (RG). Together they are among some of the best equipped and well motivated armies in the world.

Military spending is a major aspect of the Union budget, typically around 10% of the GDP is committed to the military. This large budget and a well dedicated arms industry contributes to a cutting edge air force, expanding navy, and robust land force equipped with the most modern small arms, armored vehicles, aviation assets, and naval vessels.

The State War Department (SWD) is an executive office within the cabinet charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the Union concerned directly with national security and the military. Nominal administration of the military establishment is exercised by a civilian advisory board, the National Defense Committee—which includes the chief commissioner of the Commission for Security and Order, director of the Office of Strategic Services, directors of nationalized war industries, in addition to representatives and senators from the All-Union Congress with invested expertise in national defense. The Secretary of the War Department is the principle assistant to the Troika on all matters relating to the defense of the nation.

Operational authority of the War Department is invested with the Stavka High Command of the Military, the senior uniformed general staff of the armed forces. The chairman of the Stavka is the highest ranking and most senior officer within the Union military and operational commander-in-chief of the Union Defense Forces, National Militia, and the Republican Guard. The Chairman's authority of the military is second only to the Chancellor and All-Union Congress.

A popular misnomer in the Florencian public and military itself is colloquially referring to both the Stavka High Command and National Defense Committee collectively as the Stavka.

The National Defense Act of 1920 established the military system in its present form. Disparate imperial army regiments and revolutionary volunteer militias loyal to the provisional government where synthesized into a new military representing the goals of the revolution. The result was a tripartite system of All-Union, constituent republic, and mass militarized organizations—the Union Defense Forces, National Militia, and Republican Guard. These forces are further supplemented by border troops administered by the Department of Justice and internal troops under the Commission of Security and Order.

The military would have been rebuilt from the ground up with the ideology of the 1919 revolution imprinted into the fiber of a traditionally conservative and bourgeoisie orientated organization. Three values in particular would be paramount in the transformation of the Florencian military; an armed populace, universal conscription, and military democracy.

Imperial tyranny had sought to disarm an entire population so as to gain complete autocratic control, an armed nation thus has the right and responsibility to be a bulwark against reactionary oppression, both foreign and domestic. The right to bear arms in the Florencian Union is considered sacrosanct. Reservist militiamen are permitted to safely store appropriate ammunition and service weapons in their private homes, subject to a military audit of course.

The notion of an armed nation goes hand in hand with the universal conscription practiced by the UFSR. Every able bodied citizen that has turned 19 or graduated high school is expected to perform a year of service in the Standing Republican Guard. The constituent republic organized National Militia, the professional Union Defense Forces, federal managed reserves, and law enforcement agencies recruit volunteers who have graduated from the standing guards. Should a graduate not pursue a vocation in national security, they would be rolled in the Unorganized Republican Guard and be free to pursue their life as a civilian, subject to yearly refresher courses or training exercises. Should a citizen be a conscious objector or be unfit for national service would perform alternate, charity, or auxiliary work for a full year.

The ideology of democracy was a leading factor for the revolution and like how such values revolutionized Florencian civil society, so did democracy transform the military. The UFSR is unique in it's commitment to military democracy: soldiers's councils, elections of NCO's, and a less rigid code of military discipline characterize this democratic process.

Demographics

Ethnicity

Ethnic Groups in Florencia
Ethnicity			Percentage
Native Florentine			23.3%
Elyrian			22.6%
Slavic			18.6%
Zhenian			15.5%
Other Auroran			8.2%
Mixed/Other			7.9%

Religion

Religious Affiliation in Florencia
Religion			Percentage
Salvonicism			31.6%
Atheism/Agnositicism			30.5%
Vayonism			10.3%
Albigensian Cathar			9.3%
Florentine Wuism			7.6%
Shemism			3.2%
Florencian Mormonism			2.9%
Bygospielism			2.5%
Other			2.1%

Culture

The culture of what can be defined as the Florentine people is as ever changing as the demographics that make up such a Union of diverse peoples.