Sarrac

Sarracaise Republic Sarracaise: République sarraçaise Cerdanyá: República de Sarrac Zarautzea: Sarrako Errepublika
Flag Coat of arms
Motto: "Plus loin" Further Beyond
Anthem:  "Chant du départ" (Lyonese) Song of Departure
Location of Sarrac in Berea
Map of Sarrac
Capital and largest city	Toulogne
Official languages	Sarracaise
Recognised regional languages	Zarautzea Cerdanyá
Demonym(s)	Sarracaise
Government	Unitary parliamentary constitutional republic
• President	Jean-Marc de Villers
• Premier	Jaqueline Leroux
Legislature	Parlement sarraçais
Establishment
• Telmerian consolidation	400s
• Treaty of Fauchelles	850
• Sarrac-Cedagne Union	1431
• First Sarracaise Republic	1788
• Current Constitution	1972
Population
• 2020 estimate	42,128,950
• 2018 census	40,035,846
Gini (2020)	27.5 low
HDI (2020)	0.903 very high
Currency	Franc (FRS)

Sarrac, officially the Sarracaise Republic (Sarracaise: République sarraçaise) is a country in the continent of Berea. It borders Lavaria to the east and the Arthurean Strait to the north. It is home to 42,128,950 inhabitants and its capital and largest city is Toulogne, a major financial, political and cultural centre of the continent.

During most of Antiquity, the territory of Sarrac would be home to antique Erytherian colonies, especially on its west coast bordering the Sian Sea. Farther north, in the regions that surround the Arthurean Strait, Felghnez tribes’ identity would start to form with Foranic influences from Albish territories, rapidly becoming a threat to these prosperous colonies, often referred to as city-states. During the following centuries, the territory remained subject to Cambran influence. The start of the Middle Ages would see a heavily fractured Sarrac. Cutish migrations over the Albish territory forced the Foranic tribes to extend, once again, across the Arthurean Strait, forming the first Felghnez independent merchant towns settled mostly on the northern tips of Sarrac. These towns would be the first to unify under a single authority becoming a threat to Albish kingdoms at the end of the 10th century. During most of the 9th and 10th century, Sarrac would see the development of a proper feudalist society, with the fracture of its territory developing into a decentralised authority. Felghnezs and Sarracaises would later expand across Albeinland during the 11th century, marking a point of major territorial extension that was going to carry along structural social changes and a development of the Sarracaise language, now spread across the whole continent.

Together with the end of the Middle Ages, Sarrac saw an incredible cultural development, becoming the birthplace of painters, authors and religious studies that profoundly changed the spirit of the era. Sarrac would engage in wars over territorial disputes with Lavaria and other surrounding nations during the first half of the century. During 1431, the Queen Marguerite of Sarrac would marry Charles II of Cerdagne, marking the first formal unification between the two crowns and formally forming the Sarracaise Kingdom. The rise of absolute monarchism would end with the news of the Albish Spring, which animated a republican spirit in Sarrac that overthrew the Crown and established the First Sarracaise Republic after a crude civil war. The contemporary period is marked by the heavy industrialisation carried out by Sarrac and the incursion into the Great War, during which it fought alongside the Armala Coalition, before falling into a period of regional isolation led by the Fascist leader Maxime Barrault until the 1970s. In 1972, social pressure and the death of Barrault forced a democratic aperture led by Jean-Marc Devereux, which was marked by an important financial impulse that created a large Sarracaise welfare state. During the 1990s, economic insolvations took the country to live its largest financial crisis that was tackled down with neoliberal reforms and a rise of poverty and unemployment that marked a later rise of centre-left governments.

Sarrac often performs well in international rankings of education, human development, healthcare, life exectancy and personal freedom. It is a founding member of the Assembly of Nations and a member of the Berean Defence Treaty Association since 1965.

History

Civil War and First Republic

Main articles: Sarracaise Civil War and First Sarracaise Repubic

Great War and industrialisation

Main article: Great War (Aurorum)

Sarracaise troops in _ during the _ Battle, part of the Great War.

At the start of the 20th century, the Sarracaise Republic encountered itself with a developed industrial capacity and an increased regional influence. With the burst of the conflict in the Berean continent, the republic rapidly became part of the Armala Coalition, with which it fought alongside Mascylla, Albeinland, Lavaria and Valimia. The Sarracaise armed forces became crucial in the common defence of the continent against the threat of the Dulebian Empire and the Central Alliance, having participated in the battles of the Karsk Sea and Auvergne, after the attempted invasion of the islands north of the coast of Sarrac. Throughout most of the course of the Great War, Sarrac remained with economic and political stability until approaching its end, the country fell in a spiral of financial insolvations, caused by the destruction of its industrial capacity and the repurposing, and social unrest that counted with the active participation of the Sarracaise Communist Party. Before finalising the Great War, in January of 1916, Toulonge declared its withdrawal from the armed conflict as it was entering into a state of civil war. The Socialist Party of Sarrac, of historic anarco-socialist nature, distanced itself from the SCP fearing a conflict similar to what was happening in the recently proclaimed Dulebian Federative Socialist Republic; the party remained politically aligned with the Sarracaise establishment and being part of Sébastien Géroux's National Emergency Cabinet.

The isolation of the Communist Party and the end of the war prevented social unrest from developing into a civil war; however, the Sarracaise population suffered a strong polarisation and the rise of regional nationalisms in the Pays Zarautze and Cerdagne. By 1920, the situation took the Premier Jean-Marc Cousineau to rule by decree and with the armed forces being provided with extended powers. The unpopularity of the measure forced Cousineau to lost confidence on the Parliament that declared the populist leader, Maxime Barrault, Premier of the Republic by 1923.

Republic of Barrault

Main articles: Barraultese Sarrac and Maxime Barrault

Maxime Barrault, who was dictator of Sarrac between 19 and 1963 through a doctrine rooted in national-Catholicism and technocracy.

Maxime Barrault became Premier of Sarrac inaugurating a new era of political isolation and social conservatism in what was called the Barraultese Sarrac. Maxime, who until his election had remained as a vocal opponent of the Sarracaise establishment, rapidly grew his popularity among the masses. Through the use of a doctrine rooted in what was called national-catholicisme, the regime secured itself in power, imposing traditionalist views, heavily restricting personal liberties and eliminating all political opposition. The Barrault regime is often described as a far-right technocrat dictatorship and although it remained neutral on the foreign arena, it had a clear affinity with similar movements in Cuthland-Waldrich and Erytheria.

Manifestation of the Sarracaise Youth in Toulogne, 1934.

Throughout the next decades, Sarrac remained neutral on the events that marked the foreign relations and while at first, the regime was sympathetic to the Mageiros League, this changed dramatically near its end, suffering a poor international projection and the critics from the Assembly of Nations. Economically, the country remained lagged behind other Berean nations, with a slow reconstruction of its industry severely damaged by the war. Although the aim of Maxime Barrault was to encourage family and traditional values over reaching certain economic objectives, by 1949, a cabinet of technocrats of diverse background were formed, with the intention of starting an era of development. During most of the 50s, the country's economy was revived by unprecedented rates of economic growth, which were encouraged by policies of developmentalism that counted with an important focus on the industry. The period marked a moment of enormous changed that defined life in Sarrac like a mass internal migration towards urban centres Toulogne, Martouret and Arguinegui, leaving rural areas empty and encouraging ambitious housing programs. During the decade, Sarrac switched the economic model to one focused in services, heavy industry and the mass tourism industry; as a result, resort cities like Martouret, Ballanzac and Biarritz emerged and the automakers something and another experienced the largest expansions ever.

Although the growth rates proved to be stable at first and allowed the state to actively support the enlargement of a welfare state and the development of infrastructure across Sarrac, rates would start to decrease by the end of the 50s, translating into the first signs of recession by 1961. Social discontent with the regime and a new international panorama increased social movements that started showing themselves openly accusing Barrault. In 1962, the Toulogne Students Protests became a symbol after being severely repressed by officials; one year later, Maxime Barrault died of cerebral hemorrhage and was rapidly succeeded by the Admiral Gilles Lavigne, who declared elections to take place a year later and during which Jean-Marc Devereux resulted victorious, starting a period of social and international aperture.

Contemporary period

See also: Berean Defence Treaty Association and Telmerian Single Market

Family photography of the Emmanuel Pou Chacón from Union civique radicale, first time a third party achieved the Premiership.

During the premiership of Jean-Marc Devereux, Sarrac recovered most of its international projection and diplomatic prestige. The period was marked by decolonisation referendums and the transition to democracy, which translated in a resurge of the political world with Alliance populaire and the Parti socialiste occupying most of the scene. Under Devereux's administrations, Sarrac moved towards its traditional allies, becoming a member of the Berean Defence Treaty Association in 1965; another milestone of his administration was the introduction of the "Statutes of Autonomy" (Sarracaise: "Statut d'autonomie"), with which the central government of Sarrac conceded autonomy to its regional sub-divisions. After a period of administrations from the People's Alliance that is commonly referred to in Sarrac as "The Transition" (Sarracaise: "Transition démocratique"), in 1975, Philippe Figuier assumed as Premier from the Socialist Party for the first time. Figuier led the country through an explosive moment of radical social changes that affected traditions and customs; the era included the apparition of important civil rights movements and a sexual revolution that forced the surge of LGBTQ movements and the emancipation of the women.

Between the 1967 oil crisis until the 1987 financial crash, the Sarracaise economy grew at new record rates, expanding the social welfare state and with an important development of infrastructure. However, at the start of the 1980s, economic growth, although stable, started to stagnate, ending the ten-year-long premiership of Philippe Figuier. In 1985, Pierre-Louis Vigouroux from the right wing faction of Alliance populaire was invested Premier; Vigoroux rapidly faced one of the biggest financial crisis in the continent and Sarrac, which was faced with a series of spending cuts and tax adjustments aimed to lower Sarrac's deficit. During the period, Vigoroux also proposed the privatisation of several remnants of state-owned companies and shares. Although highly criticised by increasing income gaps, the measures are discussed to have been a key factor in the following growth experienced by the republic.

The 21st century has been marked by an increasing integration of Sarrac in the Berean scenario. It has also significantely advanced on progressive policies, such as the recognition and celebration of same-sex marriages in 2006, the legalsiation of abortion to all women in 2010 and the election of the first women as Premiers and Presidents. Most recently, Sarrac discusses the passing of an euthanasia bill and the granting of more devolution to its autonomous communities.

Politics & Governemnt

Jean-Marc de Villers
President of Sarrac
since 5 September 2020

Jaqueline Leroux
Premier of Sarrac
since 10 May 2019