The Libertines

The Free Republic of the Libertines
Flag
Motto: "Unity, Freedom, Equality"
Anthem: "The Song of the Libertine"
Map of the Libertines Map of the Libertines
Capital	Freeport
Recognised national languages	Albian
Recognised regional languages	Marianan Creole, Geesee
Demonym(s)	Libertine
Government	Semi-Presidential Republic
• President	Michelangelo Masters
• Prime Minister	Toni Cain
Legislature	Libertine Congress
• Upper house	Senate
• Lower house	House of Representatives
Establishment
• Erisian Colonisation	1540s
• Vailleux Colonisation of Mariana	1609
• Alban Colonisation	1765
• Libertine Revolution	1830
• Establishment of the Free Republic of the Libertines	1844
• Establishment of the National State of the Libertines	1935
• Restoration of the Free Republic of the Libertines	1939
Population
• Estimate	30,000,000
• 2017 census	27,812,520
Currency	Libertine Dollar (LD)
Date format	mm ˘ dd ˘ yyyy
Driving side	right
Internet TLD	.lib

The Libertines, also known as the Free Republic of the Libertines, is a country located in eastern Arcadia. Divided into five states, the Libertines is approximately ... square kilometres in size, and is comprised of around 30,000,000 Libertine citizens. The Libertines is bordered by Hochland to the southeast, the Fraternal States of Augusta to the south, and the Federal Union of Arcadia to the west and northwest. The capital of the Libertines is Freeport.

The Libertines were originally inhabited before Erisian colonisation by indigenous Arcadians such as Sugeree, Croatoan, Chalakee, Yuchi, and Chowanoke peoples. Erisians first arrived in the area in the 1540s, and had begun to create several small settlements and trading posts. By the late 1600s Vailleux had taken control of the region, forming it into the colony of Mariana, named after the Vailleux Queen Maria d'Arba. It was in the first years of the 18th century that the first Maurians would arrive as slaves, and over the next century they would comprise a majority of the population. After the Nine Years War, the region came under Alban domination in 1765, taking control of the formerly Vailleux settlements, and dividing the region into two separate colonies, Mariana and Pleasantia.

In the midst of the Arcadian War of 1829 between Arcadia and Alba, a slave by the name of Cyrus Clay sparked a revolt in Mariana in 1830, beginning the Libertine Revolution. Clay's forces allied with Arcadian soldiers who were in the process of invading the region, offering aid in exchange for the training of Clay's men to act as a more organised force. The success of these forces at the end of the War of 1829 in 1833 saw the territories of Mariana and Pleasantia given to the survivors of Clay's Revolt, which were renamed to Liberty and Freedland and proclaimed as independent republics. In 1836 the two republics merged into the Provisional Republic of the Libertines as a response to the withdrawal of Arcadian troops from the region, officially ending the Libertine Revolution. The provisional Freedmen's Council, a directorate made of several representatives, governed the Libertines until the establishment of the Free Republic of the Libertines in 1844.

Close relations with Arcadia allowed the Libertine economy to gain a head start, and philanthropists from across the Western world invested money in educational programmes and Libertine institutions. Efforts to industrialise the country throughout the 1860s and 1870s, especially the creation of a nationalised rail network along with a boom in the textile industry, ensured that the Libertines would not be reliant on an agrarian economy. Relations with the newly independent Federated States of Augusta to the south however, remained near-hostile, especially as Augusta continued to practise the enslavement of Maurian-Arcadians on plantations. Tensions between the Libertines and Augusta such as the Jones Affair in 1860 would continue over the rest of the 19th century, ultimately leading to the War of 1899. The War, costly to both Augusta and the Libertines, ended in an Arcadian-mandated ceasefire and peace treaty in 1902, which led to deep dissatisfaction in both Augusta and the Libertines. In 1932 a Libertine ultranationalist by the name of Noah Stonewall was elected president, and in 1935 Stonewall disbanded the government with the help of his loyalist paramilitary forces and announced the creation of the National State of the Libertines, in which he would serve as dictator. Stonewall's government was deposed in 1939 and democracy was restored. Relations with Augusta would improve, especially after the ... Accords of 1979.

The Libertines today are a semi-presidential republic, and is described as a liberal democracy, ranking highly in areas of quality of life, of education, and of economic freedom. However, the Libertines also retains capital punishment, has fairly high rates of incarceration, and corruption, while below the world average, is not insignificant. The Libertines possess a rich cultural heritage, in particular that of Mauro-Arcadian culture, and is a major tourist destination in Arcadia. Libertine music, has become popular worldwide since the 1950s, has had a significant impact on popular music. This is especially true for the genres of jazz, rhythm, blues, rock, Catflap, snap, and hip-hop, which all have their origins at least partially or entirely from the Libertines.