Datch Union
The Datch Worker's Union Den Dacharbejderens Förbund | |
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 Flag | |
Motto: Vi står sammen (Datchens: We stand together.) | |
 The Datch Union in its position in Northwest Meridon. | |
| Capital and largest city | Ny Forsyn |
| Official languages | None |
| Recognised national languages | Datchens |
| Ethnic groups |
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| Demonym(s) | Datch, Datchen, Datchlian, Unionist |
| Government | Semi-direct democracy |
• Chief Administrator | Ilsa Gunarsdottir |
| Establishment | |
• Indpendence from Datchlia | 7th of July, 1799 |
• Abolition of the Legislative State | 18th of June, 1969 |
| Area | |
• Total | 9,167 km2 (3,539 sq mi) |
| Population | |
• 2018 estimate | 8,754,750 (16) |
• 2018 census | 8,754,750 |
• Density | 955.02/km2 (2,473.5/sq mi) |
| GDP (nominal) | DI 217 estimate |
• Total | $793,793,182,500 NSD |
• Per capita | $90,670 NSD |
| Currency | Meridonian Unit |
| Date format | dd-mm-yyyy |
| Driving side | right |
| Internet TLD | .du |
The Datch Worker's Union (Datch: Den Dacharbejderens Förbund) is a Direct Democracy, a city-state located in a hilly region of Northwest Meridon in the global region of Greater Meridon. The Datch Union is fairly homogeneous though it has been growing more diverse in recent years, as a result of the rise of the internet, and the spread of Unionist propaganda has resulted in significant amount of immigration in recent years, particularly from poorer neighboring nations. Since the successful conclusion of the 1st of May movement, and the overthrow of the legislative state, the Datch Union has been operating as the longest running, and most successful example of a Direct Democracy in Greater Meridon.
The first humans to arrive in Northwest Meridon, did so via the Gokan steps roughly 8,500 years ago. Datchlia was settled shortly after this event thanks in large part to the large amounts rich land and wide availability of food. These early Datch tribal groups would eventually settle and form fairly complex societies 6,200 years ago, with later progress being much quicker than a number of other early civilizations thanks to the discovery of Datchium metallurgy, resulting in the explosion of wealthy trading cities in the Northwestern Meridonian region. When plague swept through Northwest Meridon towards the end of the classical period these early civilizations collapsed in most of the region, however the wealthiest areas, in Datchlia contracted, but survived, with a major convocation as a result of the plague resulting in the formation of a unified Datchlian state.
The Datch Worker's Union was formed shortly after the success of the 1799 Datchlian Revolution, when after the successful overthrow of the Kingdom of Datchlia, the Republican movement fractured into the radicals and the liberals. Rather than come to blows over this, an agreement was struck between these two parties where the smaller radical movement was allowed to take over a plot of land to conduct their radical proto-anarchist experiment independently of the larger Datch state. The Datch Worker's Union was formed and ran relatively successfully during the early 19th century, seeing steady growth, particularly after the industrial revolution. However, in the middle 19th century, the Datch Union, as well as Datchlia, suffered at the hands the Narendian and Walakian states during the Datchium wars, with most of the territory of the Datch Worker's Union being taken by Walakia at the conclusion of the First Walakian Datchium War.
During the early and middle 20th century, the Datch Union slowly declined as its economic importance began to wane, delegitimizing the existent state. A movement oriented towards the abolition of the legislature began to gain power in the latter parts of the mid 20th century, resulting in the 1st of May Movement, and the successful transition to a Direct Democracy in 1969. Since then, the Datch Union has grown steadily, with the recent information era, and major immigration waves have resulted a significant growth in population. As a result of this, there have been plans made to expand the Ny Forsyn Arcology to encompass the whole of the Unionist population.
The Datch Union is a hyper-developed nation, and, it could be argued the wealthiest in Greater Meridon, as it does indeed have the highest per capita gdp in the region. Efforts have been made to develop the economy further by converting the entirety of the Union into a single mega arcology. The Datch Union, though relatively small has a significant economic impact on regional politics, and it can frequently use this economic power to leverage diplomatic concessions as needed from other nations in the region.
Etymology
The Datch Union derives its name from Datchlia, which was its parent state until the independence of the Datch Union. Datchlia is a universalization of the Datch term Dachjord, or land of the Datch people. The demonym of Datch peoples collectively is either Datch, Datchen, Datchens, or Datchlian, however, when one needs to distinguish between citizens of the Datch State, and those of the Datch Union, the term Unionist also applies.
History
Main Article: History of Northwest Meridon
Antiquity and Classical Period
People first arrived in lands that be considered Datchlia in the the steppe migration roughly 8,200 years ago. These early peoples were largely hunter-gatherers in nature, however, the climate of the early human Northwest Meridon encouraged rapid growth in population resulting in the earliest civilization in the Northwest Meridonian region arising along the Stor Flod 6,500 years ago. These early civilizations would eventually coalesce into a cohesive Datch culture later, roughly 2,500 years ago, with these early Datch states sharing faith in an ancient religion preaching of the divinity of only a single deity. The early Datch cultures became wealthy as a result of trade with the local tribal cultures in the Bastainnach and Wolok regions.
Throughout the classical period, the Datch societies would be the leaders of trade in Northwest Meridon, a role which increased dramatically after the discovery of Datchium, a metal which, at that time was uniquely Datchlian, and whose properties accelerated the progress of Datchlian civilization. In the middle classical period early Datch societies would join into an early Datchlian Kingdom known to modern peoples as the Kongeriget Gomorra, or Gomorran Kingdom, which achieved the height of its power towards the end period of the Classical Era. However, trade with the newly formed Ghirali city-states would become the most important to the formation of modern Datchlia.
In the late Classical Period, most of Northwestern Meridonian civilizations collapsed as a result of a plague brought on by refugees from the Ghirali peoples fleeing from the plague itself. The Gomorran Kingdom would be the first victim of this, as the more active trade links between Ghiraul and Gomorra brought the peoples there first. The Datchlian cities, though dramatically weakened did manage to stabilize, first as fractious city-states, and then as the Kingdom of Hadrada towards the very end of the Classical Period.
Post-Classical History, and the Kingdom of Datchlia
After the fall of the Gomorran Kingdom, there was initially enormous tension between the Datch peoples native to the area, and the Ghirali refugees and their descendants. These conflicts would permeate the wars that lead to the establishment of Hadrada, with the Kingdom itself making efforts to eliminate the Ghirali peoples as a revenge for bringing the plague. Genocidal activities undertaken by the Hadradans would see the virtual extermination of Ghirali descendants in the Stor Flod region, and would see the formation of Datch states composed of Ghirali descended persons which opposed the Hadradan state. These states would grow rapidly as Ghirali persons would continue to migrate into the Datchlian region, and would eventually displace Hadrada, with the mixed Datch-Ghirali king Erikur Mugabeson taking control of Hadradstadt, and laying the groundwork for a unified Kingdom of Datchlia.
The Kingdom of Datchlia's early years were marked primarily by putting an end to the conflict between the Ghirali descended peoples and the native Datch peoples, and to recreate an idea of a mixed Datch Peoples. These efforts would initially see little success as the newly united denizens of the Kingdom of Datchlia remained relatively isolated from each other with a predominantly black South, and a predominantly White north. As the Post-Classical period progressed however, distrust of the other eventually declined, resulting in greater intermixing. Also during this period the Kingdom of Datchlia began to expand its borders outward taking lands even beyond the mountains and the Stor Flod, which had traditionally been the boundaries of Datch culture. Integrating these new populations put a greater stress on the Datch Kingdom, resulting in a number of civil wars that wracked the Datch during the ending period of the Post-Classical period, and into the early Modern Period, with the most devastating occurring after the arrival and rapid spread of Diternalism throughout the Datchlian region.
After this period of civil wars came to end, the Datch Kingdom came to become far more absolutist in its outlook with the reigning King using his powers to reshape Datchlian society. Primarily among these were the enforcement of miscegenation among the nobility, the nationalization of currency, and the creation of a National Army. These reforms would be mirrored by the people themselves with the beginning of the Datch Enlightenment which was itself a direct response to the rise of Absolutist rule in Datchlia. Ideas such as liberty, equality, anti-theism, and the notion of natural rights of people, spread like wildfire among the up and coming intellectual class. Lingering pressure surrounding the rise of Diternalism, the spread of Enlightenment ideas, and the growing expense of maintaining a massive standing army eventually erupted into mass protests against the Kingdom. Eventually this boiled over into a massive and bloody civil war, known as the Revolution of 1799 that led to the fall of the Kingdom of Datchlia.
The Datch Union
During the 1799 Revolution, there was intense argument between two distinct factions of the Revolutionary movement. One faction known as the Moderates saw the revolution as completed with the establishment of the Republican Dachstaten. The other, known as the Radicals took the stance that the Revolution was only the first step to the total abolition of class, and the end of the state itself as a means of organization. Though the Moderates substantially outnumbered the Radicals, the Radical movement did secure significant influence in the Revolutionary government, and managed to force a solution to the conflict by demanding the creation of a new polity consisting of the northern provinces of Datchlia. This was made official with the Edict of Ny Forsyn at the conclusion of the Revolution, and the establishment of what was referred to as the Datch Union.
During the 19th century the Datch Union would prove a relatively successful revolutionary experiment as the minimalist state managed to survive the pressures of industrialization, and even thrived during this period. As the 19th century rolled on however, and as the Walakian Kingdom became increasingly aggressive in its search for Datchium, invaded the Datch Union, starting the First Walakian Datchium War. During this conflict, the Datch Union proved its relative weakness in the face of a powerful state funded army, and though the Datch citizen's militias attempted to protect the nation, they were consistently beaten in the field by the Walakian Army, and was forced to cede the western half, to Walakia and the northern two thirds of its eastern province to Narendia. The cost of this war dramatically weakened and saw the decline of the Datch Union.
During the early and middle 20th centuries the Datch Union's weakened state saw a loss of faith in the Union. Many wished to return to the State of Datchlia. Others however, wished to use this moment to move to completely abolish the legislative state. Over time, the abolitionists won out over the regressionists, and became the most powerful political force in the Datch Union. This political force coalesced into a unified movement, known as the First of May Movement, which in a referendum in 1969 abolished the legislative state and reduced the role of the state in general into a purely administrative body. In the late 20th century, the development of digital technology marked a new frontier for the Datch Union, and the exploitation of these new powerful media by the Union resulted in rapid economic and demographic growth in the nation, which in turn resulted in the Datch Union deciding in 1995 to begin construction of the Ny Forsyn Arcology, a massive structure dedicated to showing off the modernity and economic power of the Datch Union. This project's initial constructions were completed in 2005, and have become the most important aspect of the Union.
Geography
The Datch Union is a relatively small nation located in Northwest Meridon bordering Narendia, Datchlia, and Walakia. It possesses 9,167 square kilometers of territory. The northern border of the nation largely consists of low mountains as the Westernmost part of the Wolfbriar Chain. The rest of the nation consists primarily of rolling hills, forests, and grassland. The Datch Union is a fairly biodiverse nation with a few hundred species of animal and vascular plants living within the borders of the small nation. The Datch Union is particularly well known for its species of wild grasses. The highest point of the Union is the Denstenberg standing at 3,246 meters in height. A handful of small rivers dot the nation, almost all of which are tributaries to the Tyr Flod which flows from the Stor Flod to the sea, and demarcates the Narendian-Datch border.
Demographics
According to the 2018 census, the Datch Union had 8,754,750 a population, and is growing at a rate of 1% per year, primarily as a result of in migration into the Union. The poulation of the Union is primarily Datch, with the plurality being Ghirali descended, or black, Datch, and smaller though still quite sizable populations of white and mixed Datch persons, however, non-Datch immigrants have made up an increasingly large portion of the population. The population of the Datch Union is heavily urbanized with the entire population living within the ten major settlements of the Union, and the majority of the population living in the Ny Forsyn Arcology, which is the largest settlement in Northwest Meridon home to nearly four million residents. The de facto national language of the Datch Union is Datch, and though there is no official religion, most persons who are religious practice Traditionalist Diternalism, though as of 2018, nonreligiously affiliated persons have been the majority of the Unionist population.
Administration
The Datch Worker's Union as of the 1969 1st of May Movement abolished the legislative state. Laws are passed by referenda with the entire voting age populace taking part in the legislation of the Union. As a result the governing bodies of the Union are entirely administrative in nature, enforcing the missives of the common populace instead of the missives of the legislature. The current administrative regime is headed by Chief Administrator Ilsa Gunarsdottir, who primarily is responsible for organizing the adminstration's apparatuses. Beneath the office of the Chief administrator are the various bureaus and agencies that exist to keep the day to day operations of the Datch Union going, and to construct and maintain the physical infrastructure that allows the Union to operate as it does. A new Chief Administrator is selected from among the general populace once every five years, and that person is subordinate to the will of the plebiscite which can remove them at will. The Datch Union does maintain some diplomatic relations, though it has embassies only with the State of Datchlia, and only appoints temporary ambassadors as required, opting instead to remain relatively neutral in foreign affairs.
Economy
Economic Indicators
| Monetary Unit: Meridonian Unit (μ)
Conversion Rate: μ1 = $1.7733 NSD Fiscal Year: Calendar Year Nominal GDP: $793,793,182,500 NSD GDP per Capita: $90,670 NSD Labor Force: 5,690,588 Unemployment: 113,812 (2%) |
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The economy of the Datch Union is Anarcho-Socialist in nature with the means of production are entirely being managed democratically in fashions typically similar to that of the Datch Worker's Union as whole. The economy is largely dominated by the manufacturing and resource extraction sectors with Datchium mining, and advanced manufacturing making up some 60% of the Datch economy. Aside from these enterprises, the rest of the economy is largely structured around meeting the needs of the citizenry with healthcare, education, agriculture, and other basic social functions for the most part provided by the Union economy itself. Poverty has been, for the most part entirely eliminated by the Datch Union, and when found exists almost entirely among recent immigrant populations before their integration into the Union. For the most part, the Union has abandoned traditional infrastructure in favor of the arcology, and has been attempting to bring the entire population into the Ny Forsyn Arcology. Outside this arcology however, there are some well developed road networks to transport people and goods throughout the Union. Power is entirely provided through the fusion reactor at the heart of the Ny Forsyn Arcology. The resources of the Union are entirely controlled by the common people and for the most part economic activity is distributed as efficiently as possible to ensure that the needs of the people are met.
Security
The Datch Union maintains a small security force as part of its administration which provides for the maintenance of order as well as for the national defense. This security force provides for street level law enforcement, traffic enforcement, investigation of crimes, counter-terrorism, as well as defense from external threats. The security force operates throughout the Union though it is concentrated in major population centers. Currently there are 87,547 members of the security force and receives a budget of $15,875,863,650, or roughly 2% of the total economic output of the Union.
Human Development
The Datch Worker's Union is a hyper-developed nation, among one of the most developed and wealthiest nations in Greater Meridon. Poverty is essentially nonexistent in the Datch Worker's Union, and maintains a high standard of living for virtually of its citizenry. The education system is quite robust and has managed to achieve a 100% literacy rate for adults, and university levels of education for most of its citizenry. Healthcare is provided by a Unionist healthcare system operated by the administration and has facilities that suit almost all needs that the citizenry have. As a result of this and other factors, the Datch Worker's Union is one of the most developed nations in the region.
Culture
The Datch Worker's Union was originally an extension of the culture of Datchlia, however as a result of the more than two centuries of political and societal separation from the Datch State became socially distinct. For the most part, the ideology of the Datch Union and the notion of Unionist Democracy has supplanted religion as a major cultural influencer. Communal activity is the center of Unionist culture; and sport, especially team sport is a major part of Unionist culture with the Datch Union being a significant producer of football teams and players in the region. Stylistically, the Datch Union is dominated by Postmodernism, and the influence of high technology had a high impact on the Datch Union.