Essenia

Essenian Free State Esenijas brívvalsts (Essenian)
Flag Emblem
Motto: Par cilvéku brívíbu pret masu tirániju. "For the freedom of the people against tyranny of the masses"
Anthem: Brívíbas himna "Hymn of Freedom"
Map of Essenia Map of Essenia
Capital	Júrava
Official languages	Essenian
Recognised regional languages	Lec
Demonym(s)	Essenian
Government	Unitary one-party constitutional republic
• President of the Executive Council	Arturs Celmińsz
• Chairman of the Presidium	Arturs Celmińsz
• Speaker of the General Assembly	Eduards Emsis
Legislature	General Assembly
Establishment
• Kingdom of Essenia	9th century
• Republic	1924
• Revolution of Freedom	1981
Population
• 2015 census	6,184,000
GDP (nominal)	estimate
• Total	$104,3 billion
• Per capita	$16,875
Gini (2015)	38.2 medium
HDI (2015)	.782 high
Currency	Essenian lápu (El)
Date format	dd.mm.yyyy
Driving side	right
Calling code	105
Internet TLD	.es

The Essenian Free State (Latvian: Esenijas brívvalsts) is a state located in Central Esquarium, bordering Lecia to the south, Charnea to the east and the Gulf of Rama to the west. The country has a population of 6,1 million, making it one of the smallest states in the region, and its capital and largest city is Júrava.

Kingdom of Essenia became independent sometime in the 9th century and was ruled by monarchs from the House of Kolka until the 15th century, when the cadet branch Jaunskolka took over. Jaunskolka line too died out with the death of its last monarch Charles IX in 1911. A decade of instability under a regency of Prince Edgars followed, resulting in disastrous participation and defeat in the Great War. In the aftermath, the Kingdom was overthrown by Colonel Ojárs Kalvińsz, who became the first president of Essenia. Kalvińsz's authoritarian rule lasted until 1953, when he too was overthrown and democratic elections followed. After a brief experiment with democracy, Ilmárs Staprans took power after a coup d'etat and ruled for further two decades. In 1981 after announcing that his son would succeed him, massive protests erupted which evolved into a full-blown revolution. Staprans was ousted in the Revolution of Freedom and was replaced by a governing council from members of the civil society. One of them was libertarian Arturs Celmińsz, who argued for a new state that would preserve freedoms of its citizens. Celmińsz's thoughts became popular, he was chosen as the president of the Transitional Governing Council while his Party of Freedom won a majority in the Constitutional Assembly. In a controversial move, the Assembly proposed a form of government where a single vanguard party would preserve social freedoms, while political freedoms would remain off limits. The protests that followed were squashed by the Freedom Guard Corps, Party of Freedom's paramilitary force and the Constitution was approved in 1982. What followed was a massive Cultural Revolution during which tens of thousands of suspected communists, leftists and other groups were killed.

Today, Essenia is still a single-party state ruled by Celmińsz and the Party of Freedom that is responsible for countless human rights violations. Officially the country is a "libertarian one-party vanguard state dedicated to preserving the rights and freedoms of its populace." Since the 2000's, Essenia has become a tax haven and has attempted to get investment from foreign companies that are attracted to the country due to lax regulations, ample supply of cheap labour and guaranteed influence in government. In addition, tourism has become an increasingly vital source of income, with hundreds of thousands of sex and drug tourists flocking to the country every year. Essenian government is only responsible for the military, the police, the court system and certain vital infrastructure like roads, with no education, healthcare or other public services provided. Essenian citizens are free to live out their lives as they wish, as long as they do not violate the non-aggression principle and do not attempt to change the political system.

History

Republic

In the aftermath of the Great War, the Kingdom was overthrown by Colonel Ojárs Kalvińsz, who became the first president of Essenia. Kalvińsz ruled in the same way as the previous kings, ignoring most of the population and using the state as his personal bank account. Kalvińsz's authoritarian rule lasted until 1953, when he too was overthrown and democratic elections followed.

Left-wing populist Kárlis Rimszéviczs became the first democratically elected President in May of 1953. Rimszéviczs was a popular but inept ruler, who wasted government funds and managed to totally alienate the military with his ill-thought comments. He was deposed and later executed by the military in 1956, after a succesful coup by Major General Ilmárs Staprans. Staprans did not declare himself president, but set up former Minister of Interior Arnis Mazitis as a puppet president and ruled through him. In 1961, Staprans decided to depose Mazitis, who was beginning to show independence and declared himself President.

Revolution

Two decades later in 1981 Staprans, who was at this point approaching the age of 80, announced that his son Juris Staprans would succeed him after he died. Juris, who had largely lived a playboy life and shown little interest in governance was considered by almost all to be an incapable ruler. Massive protests followed that the Armed Forces were unwilling to stop. These protests event, known as the Revolution of Freedom succeeded in ousting Staprans, who escaped to Katranjiev along with this son.

Meanwhile in Júrava, a five-member Transitional Governing Council that represented the Armed Forces and underground political parties and trade unions had taken power. Arturs Celmińsz, chairman of the small liberal Party of Freedom became the Chairman of the Council. He quickly became popular among the protesters, and in 1981 Essenian Constitutional Assembly election his party won 64% of the vote and a majority in the Assembly.

Celmińsz was aware that the military might overthrow him, and he was also worried that eventually a left-wing government might come to power and restrict the rights of Essenian citizens. In February 1982 Celmińsz struck a deal with the Armed Forces, guaranteeing their power if they agreed to his plan: Formation single-party state led by a libertarian vanguard party and protected by a strong military, that would squash left-wing and liberal movements that threatened the economic rights of the population. Political freedoms would remain off limits to most of the population. Public services and taxes would be cut, while the remaining money would mostly go to the military. The Generals agreed.

Consolidation of the Free State

In April 1982 the Constitutional Assembly released its proposal for a new constitution. Most were outraged, believing that the new Constitution would cement just another dictatorship and started rioting. The riots that followed were violently broken up by the Armed Forces and the Freedom Guard Corps, Party of Freedom's new paramilitary force. The new Constitution was approved in the 1982 Mespalian constitutional referendum, which was marred by irregularities, ballot stuffing and voter fraud.

What followed was the start of the Essenian Cultural Revolution, meant to weed out opposition and create the a stable basis for a new, libertarian vanguard state. The Revolution targeted mostly leftists, while members of the previous military government mostly joined the new government. During the Revolution, tens of thousands of suspected communists, leftists and other "treasonous" groups were arrested, tortured or killed. Hundreds of thousands escaped to Lecia and Milenka.