Ommenlanden

United Socialist Republics of Ommelanden Verenigde Socialistische Republieken van Ommelanden
Flag Emblem of Ommelanden Emblem
Motto:  Stijgen Arbeiders Rise Workers
Anthem:  Hymne van de Republieken Hymn of the Republics
Location of Ommenlanden (in green), Belisaria in grey. Location of Ommenlanden (in green), Belisaria in grey.
Capital and largest city	Alkmaar
Official languages	Dutch
Demonym(s)	Ommish
Government	Unitary single party socialist state
• President	Hubertus Albers
• Premier	Jelle Nijdam
• Secretary of the Congress-General	Astrid Huysmans
Legislature	Congress-General
Establishment
• Independence from Allamunnika	XX
• United Kingdom of Ommelanden and Ostmark	XX
• Socialist revolution	1943
• Current constitution	2013
Area
• Total	115,328 km2 (44,528 sq mi)
• Water (%)	2.6%
Population
• 2017 estimate	19,557,800
• 2010 census	18,224,387
• Density	169.58/km2 (439.2/sq mi)
GDP (PPP)	estimate
• Total	$399.89 billion
• Per capita	$20,447
GDP (nominal)	estimate
• Total	$369.14 billion
• Per capita	$18,873
Gini	28.9 low
HDI (2015)	0.795 high
Currency	Ommelander Stuiver (OS)
Date format	dd.mm.yyyy
Driving side	left
Calling code	+49

Ommelanden, officially the United Socialist Republics of Ommelanden (Ommish: Verenigde Socialistische Republieken van Ommelanden) is a country located in north-western Belisaria. To the north it borders Ostmark, to the west Allamunnika, to the south Liothidia and east XX. With an estimated population of 19.5 million, it is the Xth largest in Belisaria. Ommelandnen consists of six republics, which have sizeable autonomy for a unitary system. The five largest cities in Ommelanden are Alkmaar, Weijerswold, Dalerveen, Brutinge and Stuifzand. Alkmaar is the capital and largest city, housing all institutions of government, while Dalerveen is widely considered to be the cultural hub.

Ommelanden emerged as an independent state in XXXX, alongside Ostmark from Allamunnika. Within weeks of independence, both countries united through a personal union, forming the United Kingdom of Ommelanden and Ostmark. Despite great prosperity and cultural enrichment, by the 20th century the Kingdom had slowly become dominated by pillarisation between the two constituent states - with Ommelanden being predominately Alban and Fabrian Catholic, to Ostmark's XX, as well as being divided by inequality and economic power. During the 1920s, the Kingdom was wracked by socialist agitations, aided by neighboring Liothidia in what is known as the Red Decades. By the early 1940s, this high level of division and pillarisation eventually led to the Ommish Revolution in 1943, resulting in the breakdown of the union and the independence of both states, with Ommelanden becoming a socialist republic.

Following the revolution in 1943, Ommelanden underwent a period of state-led terror against perceived counter-revolutionaries including, the clergy, supposed pro-Osterish, landowners, academics and foreigners, in what became known as the Grote Beproeving. Between 25,000 and 56,000 people are believed to have died between 1943 and 1945, however, the process came to an abrupt end with the outbreak of the Second Lio-Vannoisian War in 1945, in which Ommelanden fought alongside Liothidia. During the conflict, Ommelanden invaded and occupied southern Ostmark, which it would retain controversially in wake of the Belisarian Armistice in 1951. Ommelanden's reconstruction would be hamstrung significantly by the oversized exploitation of resources by Liothidia, while it was also forced to contend with popular resistance within occupied Ostmark. From 1951 until 1965, thousands more would be killed in repeated purges against the religious and dissidents, however by 1970, Ommelanden had restored itself to its pre-war levels.

The 1980s and 1990s would mark a series of near-devastating political crises emerging out of often violent regime in-fighting. Between 1983 and 1993, Ommelanden would suffer over 10 coups in what is known as the Lost Decade. Stability would be returned in 1995 with the military intervention of Liothidia, in which hundreds of senior Ommish regime officials were detained and purged by the Liothidian military. From 1995 onward, the Liothidian military has maintained a sizeable presence in Ommelanden and enjoys a significant influence over its government and politics. The Liothidian presence resulted in stability and economic reform, dramatically improving the national economy, although it remains one of the poorest states in Belisaria.

Ommelanden is a founding and leading member of the International Congress for Cooperation, the Forum of Nations and the Belisarian Congress of Development and Peace.

Geography

According to the Central Office of Statistics, Ommenlanden has a total land area of 115,328 km2, Xth largest in Belisaria and Xth largest in the world.

Ommenlanden is geographically a very low and flat country, with about 26% of its area and 21% of its population located below sea level, and only about 50% of its land exceeding one metre above sea level, this flat terrain forms the interior of the so-called "Voreian Plain". The flat nature sees an exception of foothills in the far southeast, up to a height of no more than 321 metres, and some low hill ranges in the central parts. The flatness of terrain and extensive water systems present (lakes, rivers and springs) has resulted in large polder areas which are preserved through elaborate drainage systems that include dikes, canals and pumping stations.

An example of Ommenlanden's flat riverine terrain that dominates much of the country's area.

Ommenlanden is punctuated by three major Belisarian rivers, the Lahn (Laan), Schwarzwasser (Zwartwater) and Unstrut (Anstrut), these provide Ommenlanden with much of its flood-related threats, but also the vast swathes of mineral rich agricultural lands. With two of the three rivers (Lahn and Schwarzwasser) running east to west from Liothidia, they have played historic roles in propagating close commercial, cultural and political ties since antiquity. The Unstrut River runs east-to-west along the border with Vorindun, before turning south and west toward the coast, enabling Ommenlanden to utilise the river as a natural defensive barrier. Running off these three rivers are hundreds of tributaries and streams that have supplied the country with fertile soil and clean water.

Climate

The location of Ommenlanden in the interior of north-western Belisaria means almost all of the country has a temperate seasonal climate dominated by humid westerly winds. The country is situated in between the oceanic Western Belisarian and the continental Central/Eastern Belisarian climate. The climate is moderated by the North Thalassian Drift, the northern extension of the Gulf Stream. This warmer water affects the areas bordering Ostmark, which can lead to the climate indicating elements of the oceanic classification. This results in Ommenlanden has cold winters and warm dry summers, at times with high humidity.

Government and politics

President of the Socialist Republics Hubertus Albers

Premier Jelle Nijdam

Ommelanden is a federal Kesslerist-Schraderist one-party socialist republic, one of the three Communist states (the other being Estoni and Liothidia) in Belisaria. Under the constitution, the All-Ommish Socialist Party (AOSP) asserts their role in all branches of politics and society in the country. The President is the elected head of state and General-Secretary of the AOSP, and the commander-in-chief of the military, serving as the Chairman of the Council of Supreme Defence and Security, holds the second highest office in Ommelanden as well as performing executive functions and state appointments and setting policy.

While the Premier is the head of government, presiding over the Directorate of Ministers composed of two deputy prime ministers and the heads of 26 ministries and commissions. Only political organisations affiliated with or endorsed by the AOSP are permitted to contest elections in Ommelanden, which are primarily driven through the [[Congress-General]. These include the Ommish Socialist Fatherland Front and worker and trade unions. Although Ommelanden remains officially committed to socialism as its defining creed, its economic policies have grown increasingly capitalist, in line and under the influence of neighboring Liothidia.

The Volkspaleis in Alkmaar is the seat of the Congress-General.

The Congress-General of Ommelanden is the unicameral legislature of the state, composed of 306 members. The legislature is open to all parties and trade unions. Headed by a General-Secretary, it is superior to both the executive and judicial branches, with all government ministers being appointed from members of the Congress-General. The Supreme People's Court of Ommelanden, headed by a Chief Justice, is the country's highest court of appeal, though it is also answerable to the Congress-General. Beneath the Supreme People's Court stand the provincial municipal courts and numerous local courts. Military courts possess special jurisdiction in matters of national security.

All-Ommish Socialist Party

Main article: All-Ommish Socialist Party

The All-Ommish Socialist Party (Allemaal-Ommishe Socialistische Partij) has been the ruling political party of the country since the 1924 Revolution, which has been maintained through varying forms and structures. Following the 1995 Liothidian intervention, the AOSP has maintained power through being the "central pillar" of the Ommish Socialist Fatherland Front, a national-front of numerous political parties and trade unions. The AOSP utilises the OSFF to control political parties and movements, with groups outside of the Front being banned and repressed. However, political autonomy within the OSFF is significantly high, in terms of political alignment and ideology; though all groups are exclusively left-wing. Despite the openness of the OSFF, the AOSP maintains control of all major state institutions, including the judiciary, executive and security apparatus.

According to the AOSP's "Charter of Popular Power", the party is leading the Ommish people "in carrying out the country's renovation, modernisation and harmonisation." The Charter, reaffirmed in 1995, states that it believes in socialist internationalism of the working class, and supports the "struggle for peace, national independence, democracy and social progress of the world's people." The AOSP acts as the vanguard of the working people and the whole nation by representing their interests. Its aim is to create "a strong, independent, prosperous and democratic country with an equitable and civilized society, to realise socialism and ultimately, communism." The Party's ideological foundation is Wernerism-Schraderism and Principles of 1995. These ideologies guide the activities of the Party, while promoting "the nation's traditions, and absorbing other nations' essential ideas."

The AOSP is organised on the principles of democratic centralism. It practices "criticism, self-criticism, and strict discipline" and pursues "collective leadership and individual responsibility, and promoting comradeship and solidarity in line with the Party's political programs and statutes." The AOSP is subject to national laws and the Constitution. It is the country's ruling party and promotes the "mastery of the people over the country". The Party is under the supervision of the people. It is dependent on having the people contribute to the party, by strengthening, uniting, and leading the people in the revolutionary cause. The political system in Ommenlanden is led and dominated by the AOSP, and it "leads, respects and promotes the role of the State, the Ommish Socialist Fatherland Front (OSFF) and other socio-political organisations."

Unlike the Socialist Workers' Party in Liothidia, the AOSP is significantly more open to the general populace, who are permitted to select party candidates for city and county level offices through primaries, while the Party has been known to utilise referendums on major issues at both local and national levels.

Liothidian influence

In wake of the mass protests and street violence that culminated the Lost Decade, the neighbouring socialist power of Liothidia- which had enjoyed significant influence over Ommish politics since the end of the Belisarian War, intervened to restore control through Operation Brüderliche Stärke. On April 3 1995, over 36,000 Liothidian soldiers crossed the border and seized control of Ommelanden's largest cities and key infrastructure. This coincided with the rendition of several senior political figures to Liothidia and the co-opting of the Ommish Worker's Army in re-establishing control. By April 6, the country had fallen under Liothidian control with very little bloodshed. In response, senior Liothidian party officials arrived and worked to restore stability to Ommish politics. On April 10, Jan Boekhorst was appointed President and Hendrika Tigelaar as Premier.

Over the next year, the Ommish government under Liothidian pressure would enact several major reforms to its economy and politics, which significantly opened up the country internally. The Congress-General was dramatically empowered at the expense of the executive, while the judiciary was equally empowered to check the legislature for factionalism. Both political and economic reforms calmed social tensions and resulted in renewed economic growth and development. However, the reforms legally bounded the Liothidian military presence, while the KOMINSI was granted extra-territorial jurisdiction over Ommelanden. Between 1995 and 2005, the Liothidians were able to influence internal affairs in often overt ways, including the vetting of candidates from the Congress-General to executive positions. Throughout this period, KOMINSI assisted Ommish security services in combating dissidents and conducted counter-espionage operations.

By 2015, Liothidian influence had moved behind the scenes, while its military presence remained intact. In June 2015, extra-territorial jurisdiction was repealed through a mutual-agreement between both governments, however, human rights organisations and foreign intelligence services have reported that this has not ended in reality. Liothidian influence over Ommish politics remains significant, with outsized access to all office-holders and continued right of vetting.