Wallena

Wallenian Union Wallenisch Staatenbund
Flag National Seal
Motto: "Lebe Frei Oder Stirb" "Live Free or Die"
Anthem: "Bürgerhymne" "Citizen's Hymn"
Wallena (dark green) in Marceaunia (light grey)
Capital and largest city	Wilhelmsburg
Official languages	Tyrnican
Recognised regional languages	T’ooch’kadi, Lower Deix
Demonym(s)	Wallenian
Government	Confederal semi-direct democracy under a semi-presidental system
• Stateholder	Gisela Protz
• Speaker of the Landbund	Astor Kraus
Legislature	Landbund
Independence from  Tyrnica
• Wittau Charter	Spring 8th, 1590
• Acts of Dominion	December 9th, 1860
• Independence Declared	12 March 1913
• Wallenian Union Formed	October 9th, 1920
Population
• 2019 estimate	36,862,108
• 2016 census	35,515,621
GDP (PPP)	2019 estimate
• Total	$1.49 trillion
• Per capita	$42,600
GDP (nominal)	2019 estimate
• Total	$1.47 trillion
• Per capita	$42,000
Gini (2018)	26.3 low
HDI (2018)	0.914 very high
Currency	Wallenian Mark (WLM)
Date format	dd-mm-yy
Driving side	right
Calling code	+43
ISO 3166 code	WLN
Internet TLD	.wl

Wallena, formally known as the Wallenian Union (Tyrnican: Wallenisch Staatenbund), is a confederal semi-direct democracy located in central Marceaunia. It shares a border with Albrennia to the north and Audonia to the south, bordering the Hesperian Ocean to the east along the nation's only coastline. The Union is comprised of 12 semi-autonomous states, which are further subdivided into districts. Each state possesses its own regional government, capital, and set of laws. The de-facto capital of the Union is Wilhelmsburg, located along the populous Gold Coast region which spans the north-east coast of Wallena. The confederate states of the union make up a cumulative xxx km2 or land area, making Wallena the xth largest country in terms of area and xth in terms of population.

Etymology

'Wallena' translates roughly to 'the land which flows', taking after the Mid-Tyrnican word Wallen meaning to flow and the suffix -a denoting a place of origin.

The use of the word 'Wallena' in an offical capacity can be traced back to a 1615 document accredited to Tyrnican explorer and navigator Helfgott Siegert. The term was used to refer to the general area around the Soven River Valley, encircling the Freudenburg crown-settlement, and the modern day Gold Coast. Siegert's report was considered to have been the precedent for which later reports were used to refer to the general colonial area of Tyrnican settlement in central Marceaunia. The origin of the name itself is believed to have been penned much earlier however, just not used in an official capacity but rather a colloquial one.

Rosemarie Kopp, writing under the pseudonym Gomeric Vonnegut, is generally the accredited author for the piece which first coined the name 'Wallena.' The widely circulated poem Westliche Vorsehung (1595) used the phrase 'Wallena' in describing the western coastal regions which had been recently explored more in depth by Tyrnican navigators. The coining of the phrase was in reference to the cascading waterfalls and winding rapids of the Soven valley.

History

December Revolution & Establishment of the Union

Main Article: December Revolution (Wallena)

Citizen's Revolutionary Militia irregulars in Wilhelmsburg, early 1916.

Alois Gellner, soon to be first Stateholder of the Union, speaks at a rally in Engthal to a crowd.

Negotiations among the Moderates and the Labor Movement (represented by the Frontier Workers Party and the Liberationist Party) broke down following the failure to reach a consensus on how the newfound Republic's constitution should be structured. Pressed by both public unrest and the desire to cement the nation's sovereignty, the Moderates convened a secret meeting of the Provisional Constitutional Assembly in early November of 1914. Reaction to the ratification of the 1914 Constitution was heavily split amongst the public, supporters of a more moderate republic tended to favor the measure as a 'utilitarian use of government power.' Oskar Bodenheimer was subsequently elected by the constitutional assembly as the First President of the Wallenian Republican and would soon after begin the process of solidifying the political power of the Republic. Opposition to Bodenheimer declared the constitution a 'rump constitution' and opposed the formation of the Republic.

The White Winter Putsch of 1914 saw Republican forces attempt to force out leftist sympathetic members of the assembly and physically bar them from entry to the Bundstag building. Unrest continued to grow throughout 1914, largely is less organized protests and demonstrations which would rarely escalate into violent confrontation with law enforcement. By 1915, the Frontier Workers Party became a major organizational figure in an attempt to guide the greater labor movement. Crackdowns on leftist groups meant that the movement had become somewhat disparate after the events of 1914, resulting in periods of infrequent activity from late 1914 well into 1915. 1915 was historically recounted as the 'False Peace' due to the conception within the Republican government that the troubles were mostly over.

In December of 1915 the Wilhelmsburg Lockout would mark the first major, organized effort at opposition to the Republican government since late 1914. Negotiations between the Gold Coast Industrial Workers Union and Bodenheimer's administration were ultimately inconclusive, with talks closing with the onset of the Wittau Uprising and the beginning of the FVE-14 Movement the following week. Clashes between paramilitary groups and law enforcement became increasingly common following the devolution of the Wittau demonstrations into prolonged urban warfare between leftist irregulars, right-wing irregulars, and law enforcement. Bodenheimer declared a proper state of emergency and introduced the National Safety Protocol for the Preservation of the Republic in early January of 1916. The following month Aurel Foehrkolb and several of his colleagues returned from Sulatia, inspired by the revolutionary and organizational tactics of the Sulatian revolutionaries.

The Patzen Convention, held in mid April of 1916, served to further consolidate leftist revolutionary forces following another round of unsuccessful talks with the Republican administration. Alois Gellner, endorsed by Foehrkolb, would become the de-facto leader of the Frontier Workers Party and the self-declared Wallenian Revolutionary Committee following the Patzen convention.

Politics and Government

Main Article: Horizontalism, Frontier Workers Party of Wallena

A Platztreffen in Sulzfeld, Osternach State.

Stateholder of Wallena Gisela Protz

Speaker of the Landbund Astor Kraus

  Libertarians: 140 seats

  New Radicals: 102 seats

  Communalists: 91 seats

  Perpetualists: 62 seats

  Republicans: 7 seats

Wallena is classified as a confederal semi-direct democracy headed by a semi-presidental system. Local autonomy is considered to be paramount in the Wallenian political process, enshrined in the nation's confederal structure, which allows a significant range of regional autonomy. At the lowest unit of governance are Ward Committees which are popularly supported assemblies which seek to address both concerns of the workforce and the residency and consumer base. Another form of local political organization is known as the Platztreffen (lit. plaza meeting), a popular forum wherein citizens can exercise their right to a citizens' initiative or popular referendum. Electronic and live-streamed Platztreffen have become more common place in larger cities since the early 2000s. At a state-level, legislation and political power is handled through a unicameral legislature, which operates off of consensus gathered from precedents established in Platztreffen meetings or through decisions by the Ward Committees and Union Councils. State level assemblies are known simply as state councils, and are formed partially through directly elected officials of each ward and district. The other half of the state assembly is formed by members representing the State-wide worker's guilds, worker's councils, and miltia councils. Members of the latter are elected exclusively in their work-place elections and not by the general public.

At the confederal level, there are two major branches of government, the Office of the Stateholder and the Landbund. The Stateholder is considered to be the head of state and is charged with the representation of the ideals, political outlook, and international image of Wallena. They are elected through a confederal vote conducted every four years through a score voting system by all citizens above the age of 18. The current Stateholder is Gisela Protz, representing the Radicals political faction. The Stateholder may be recalled through popular referendum with proper trial by the Landbund. The Stateholder also maintains the rights and duties of consultation with the Landbund as well as with state-level assemblies.

The nation's legislature is the Landbund, a 402 seat assembly which share the same structure as the State Councils. Half of the Landbund are popularly elected officials, generally representing a particular political faction, while the other half are representatives polled from national worker's guilds, worker's councils, and militia councils. The Landbund gathers less frequently than state-level or local level councils due to the focus of Wallenian politics being on the local level. Nevertheless, by power vested into the body by the nation's constitution, the Landbund is the only assembly which can pass uniform law at the confederal level.

Political culture in Wallena differs from other nations across the world due to representation extending into the workplace, through mechanisms such as worker's guilds, councils, and democratically elected workplace representation. Party politics are also officially non-existent due to the fact the there is only one political party in the nation, the Frontier-Worker's Party. However, politics still have a partisan bent due to the emergence of various faction within the party which represent different political platforms and tendencies.