Vyarmansk
People's Republic of Vyarmansk Народна република Вярманск | |
|---|---|
 Flag | |
| Motto: "Freedom Through Security" | |
| Capital and largest city | Vyarmansk |
| Official languages | Bulgarian, Russian |
| Demonym(s) | Vyarmanskan |
| Government | Unitary Marxist–Leninist one–party socialist republic |
• General Secretary | Pavel Hranov |
• Second Secretary | Kosyo Stoyanov |
| Legislature | Congress of the Vyarmansk Communist Party |
| Population | |
• Estimate | 7,000,000 |
| Currency | Vyarmansk Ruble |
Vyarmansk, officially the People's Republic of Vyarmansk, is a unitary Marxist–Leninist one–party socialist republic located along the eastern most edge of the Vulmaro Alps. Hosting a population of around 7 million, Vyarmansk started as an undeveloped and largely agricultural society, something common to the region. When the communist party took power, they started to transform Vyarmansk into an industrialized socialist society. The leadership of Vyarmansk undertook massive state investment in heavy industry, state infrastructure and military strength, neglecting the production of consumer goods. The first Three Year Plan called for "active self-reliance", collectivization of agriculture and initiated mass mobilizations campaigns in agriculture, and developed a new industrial management system. Industry was fully nationalized by 1953, and by 1960 almost all homes had electricity, though unreliable.
Geography
Vyarmansk is located in the eastern most part of the Vulmaro Alps, along the Komarov Sea. The swampy Mare Depression is in the west of the Republic, contrasted by more hilly landscapes in the east where the highest point of the Republic (at 278 meters (912 ft)) is located. The Republic borders with the Grand Principality of Livoli in the north and west, the Holy State of Cennito in the southeast and south.
There are 246 rivers in the Republic, with the Tanev River and its tributaries being the major water arteries. Most rivers are considered to be minor—10–50 meters (33–164 ft) wide and 0.5–1.4 meters (1 ft 8 in – 4 ft 7 in) deep—and usually freeze between mid-November and mid-April. There are over 700 lakes and ponds; many located in the swampy areas and having areas of less than 1 square kilometer (0.39 sq mi) and depths between 1 and 3 meters (3 ft 3 in and 9 ft 10 in). Lake Bakalov, occupying 150 hectares (370 acres), is the largest by area, while Lake Yordanov is the deepest. Swamps cover large areas—10–70 square kilometers (3.9–27.0 sq mi) and up to 100 square kilometers (39 sq mi)—and usually freeze in December.
Climate is moderately continental, with moderately cold and snowy winters and warm and often rainy summers. The average temperatures range from 18–20 °C (64–68 °F) in summer to −18 – −20 °C (0 – −4 °F) in winter. November is the windiest month of the year. Annual precipitation varies from 450 to 500 millimeters (18 to 20 in).
There are scattered deposits of molybdenum, coal, manganese, iron and tin. About 50% of the Republic's territory is forested, although the level of forestation varies significantly from one district to another.
Politics and government
The constitution, approved in 1921 by the Vyarmansk Communist Party, established the organization of the state. According to Article 1, Vyarmansk is a "revolutionary-democratic dictatorship of the proletariat, the peasantry and the intelligentsia". The national government of Vyarmansk has been completely absorbed by the Vyarmansk Communist Party. All decisions of state are decided within the halls of the all-powerful Communist Party. The national legislature takes place in the form of the Congress of the Vyarmansk Communist Party. The General Secretary of the Party serves as head of state, as there exists no "president" or "prime minister", only Party positions. All ministries are controlled and operated by the Central Committee of the Vyarmansk Communist Party. The Central Committee, as the Party's highest decision-making institution, elects several bodies to carry out its work. The first plenary session of a newly elected central committee elects the general secretary of the Central Committee, the party's leader; the Central Military Commission (CMC); the Secretariat; and the Central Control Commission (CCC). According to the party constitution, the general secretary must be a member of the Secretariat, and is responsible for convening meetings of the Central Committee, while also presiding over the work of the Secretariat. The Secretariat "exercises the functions and powers of the Central Committee when a plenum is not in session".
General Secretary
General Secretary of the Central Committee is the title given to the overall leader of the party and is the single most powerful position in Vyarmansk.
Party Congress
The Congress of the Vyarmansk Communist Party is, at least nominally, the highest state body. Acting as the legislature of the nation, its powers and functions include the creation of new state commissions and committees, the approval of the Three-Year Plans and the government budget, election of the Central Committee, appointment of officials to the Supreme People's Court and managing an enormous bureaucracy responsible for the administration of the economy and society. In practise, the institution approves and implements all decisions made by the Central Committee.
Central Committee
The Central Committee is a collective body elected at the annual party congress. It is mandated to meet at the first of each month to act as the party's supreme governing body. Central Committee members are elected to the seats because of the offices they held, not on their personal merit. The first plenary session of a newly elected central committee elects the general secretary of the Central Committee, the party's leader; the Central Military Commission (CMC); the Politburo; the Secretariat; and the Central Control Commission (CCC). The Central Committee or the Politburo and/or Secretariat on its behalf can issue nationwide decisions. The Central Committee reviews and votes on party policies and proposals and issues decisions on policy, budgets and resource allocations. The Central Committee meets monthly, and issues its directives to the Secretariat, headed by the Deputy Secretary - both appointed by the Central Committee. The current General Secretary of the Central Committee is Pavel Hranov.
Secretariat
The Secretariat heads the communist party's central apparatus and is solely responsible for the development and implementation of party policies. The Secretariat manages and and directs the day-to-day operations of the Vyarmansk Communist Party. The Deputy Secretary is responsible for chairing the Secretariat in place of the General Secretary. When the General Secretary can not chair the meetings of the Secretariat or Central Committee, the Deputy Secretary will take his place. The Secretariat meets weekly. The current Deputy Secretary is Kosyo Stoyanov.
Central Control Commission
The Central Control Commission is responsible for controlling party discipline. The Party Control Committee oversees the discipline of Party members and candidate Party members in terms of their observance of the programme and regulations of the Party, state discipline and Party ethics. It administers punishments, including expulsions from the Party. The Central Control Committee also considers the appeals of Party members punished by their local Party organizations.
The composition of the Central Control Commission is elected by the Party Congress; members of the Central Control Commission can not be simultaneously members of the Central Committee. The activities of the Central Control Commission largely help not only to reduce the number of violators of party and ethical norms in the party, but also to somewhat improve the poor quality of the management system. The current Chairman of the Central Control Commission is Mihael Nankov.
Military
The Vyarmansk People's Army numbers 150,000 men, serving in four different branches – Land Forces, Navy, Air and Air Defense Forces, and Missile Forces.
The VPA operates 3,000 tanks, 2,000 armored vehicles, 2,500 large caliber artillery systems, over 500 combat aircraft, 33 combat vessels, as well as 67 Scud missile launchers, 24 SS-23 launchers and dozens of FROG-7 artillery rocket launchers.
Economy
Vyarmansk has maintained an incredibly closed and centralized economy for several decades. It follows a pattern of five-year plans with the ultimate goal of achieving self-sufficiency. The economy is heavily nationalized, where the government will provide fuel and materials for a factory, while the factory will manufacture products and quantities according to the government's requirements. Food and housing are extensively subsidized by the state; education and healthcare are free; and the payment of taxes is officially abolished. Industry and services employ 65% of Vyarmansk's labor force. Major industries include machine building, mining, metallurgy, forestry and agriculture. Its 600 cooperatives and state farms are moderately successful, with intermittent fertilizer and equipment shortages. Potatoes, soybeans, cabbage and carrots are some of the primary crops. A significant contribution to the food supply comes from commercial fishing and aquaculture. Smaller specialized farms, managed by the state, also produce "luxury crops", including berries, honey, asparagus and herbs.
The official stance of the Vyarmansk Communist Party is that in order to implement the principle of economic self-sufficiency, one must build an independent national economy. More specifically, heavy industry with the machine-building industry as its backbone is the pillar of an independent national economy. The Communist Party also emphasizes the importance of technological independence and self-sufficiency in resources. As a result of the dedication to this idea, Vyarmansk has created an autarkic industrial economy. Propaganda preaches the virtues of technological self-reliance. The pursuit of economic autarky has been blamed for contributing to low standard of living when compared to neighboring states.
Energy
Vyarmansk has no coking coal, but has substantial reserves of lignite. Coal production peaked at 12 million tons in 1970 and seems to have peaked at that point due to outdated mining technology. As coal is used mainly for industry and electricity generation, decrease in coal production causes serious problems in industrial production and electricity generation. Coal production may not necessarily increase significantly until Vyarmansk develops newer mining technology. Coal is Vyarmansk's largest source of electricity generation, producing about 47.3% of its power. 20.2% of the power was produced from nuclear, with Vyarmansk having 4 nuclear power stations with RBMK reactors. The Ministry of Atomic Energy is currently planning the construction of 2 more reactors, to decrease reliance on coal reserves. 18.4% of electricity comes from hydroelectric dams. Vyarmansk has very little petroleum and natural gas reserves. There are sizable reserves of lignite coal in areas of the Vulpes Mountains that remain untapped.
Industry
Vyarmansk hosts a number of heavy, medium and light industries. Due to the abundance of forests, lumber processing plants and paper mills provide thousands of jobs nationwide. Along with iron mines, the forest product industry provides Vyarmansk with crucial building materials. Molybdenum, coal, manganese, tin mines make up the majority of mineral output for processing plants in Vyarmansk.
Transport
Transport infrastructure includes railways, highways, water and air routes, but rail transport is by far the most widespread. The Vyarmansk State Railway carries 80% of annual passenger traffic and 86% of freight. Steam locomotives are still used in regular service, alongside a fleet of diesel-electric locomotives.Road transport is very limited. The only road networks that are paved are mostly in cities and major roadways connecting large cities. As very few citizens own road vehicles, the demand for expanding paved roadways is low. Only 2% of the freight capacity is supported by river and sea transport, and air traffic is negligible from the state-run airline, Air Vyarmansk. Cars are relatively rare, but bicycles are common.