Venland

Soviet Socialist Republic of Venland
Flag Coat of Arms
Motto: "Horizons of Unity"
Anthem: Hymn of the People
Capital and largest city	Minsk
Ethnic groups	60% Hyur 34% Lalafell 6% Roe
Religion	Secular state (de jure) State atheism (de facto)
Demonym(s)	Venish Ven
Government	Unitary Marxist-Leninist one-party socialist republic
• General Secretary	Kropanin Arkadiy Stepanovich
• Chairman	Pomelov Vyacheslav
• Premier	Nelli Yakovna
Legislature	Congress of the Soviet Socialist Republic of Venland
• Upper house	National Committee
• Lower house	National Assembly
Establishment
• Revolution	25 April 1920
• Constitution	14 November 1924
Area
• Total	2,320,500 km2 (896,000 sq mi)
• Water (%)	1.4% (32,487 km2 or 12,543.301 sq mi)
Population
• 1945 census	63,503,426
GDP (nominal)	1945 (15/08) estimate
• Total	727,843,957,249.10
• Per capita	22,014.15
Currency	Lind Ruble (₽) 1 LIR (₽) = 1.1672 OSU ($) 1945 (15/08) (LIR)
Date format	dd/mm/yyyy
Driving side	right
Calling code	+09

Venland, officially the Soviet Socialist Republic of Venland, VSSR, or Venish SSR is a Marxist-Leninist sovereign state in Anea, located within Strangereal. The country is bordered by Heulia and Guyomartand to the south, Yelacapeva to the south-east and Lotion to the north. Venland's government and economy are highly centralized, the country is a one-party state governed by the Communist Party of Venland (CPV) with its capital in Minsk, the nation's largest city and main cultural and commercial centre. With a population of 63.5 million and a land area of 2,320,500km².

The Soviet Republic had its roots in the 1920 April Revolution, when the Proletariat, led by Georgy Sokolov, overthrew the monarchist provisional government which had replaced the last Empress Katia Voroninova. Following Sokolov's death in 1924 and a brief power struggle, Kropanin Arkadiy Stepanovich came to power in the mid-1920s. Stepanovich committed the state's ideology to Marxism–Leninism and constructed a command economy which led to a period of rapid industrialization and collectivization.

Etymology

The word "Soviet" is derived from a Russian word сове́т (sovét) meaning council, assembly, advice, harmony, concord and all ultimately deriving from the proto-Slavic verbal stem of vět-iti ("to inform"), related to Slavic věst ("news"), English "wise", the root in "ad-vis-or" (which came to English through French), or the Dutch weten ("to know"; cf. wetenschap meaning "science"). The word sovietnik means "councillor".

The traditional English name "Venland" derives from Latin "Venimia", which means "home of the Vens". The name comes from, according to legend, their leader Venn, who brought the tribe to settle the region.

Economy

The Soviet Socialist Republic of Venland adopted a command economy in 1924, whereby production and distribution of goods were centralized and directed by the government. The first Proletariat experience with a command economy was the policy of War communism, which involved the nationalization of industry, centralized distribution of output, coercive requisition of agricultural production, and attempts to eliminate money circulation, private enterprises and free trade. After the severe economic collapse, Sokolov replaced war communism by the New Economic Policy (NEP) in 1921, legalizing free trade and private ownership of small businesses. The economy quickly recovered.

After a long debate among the members of the Politburo about the course of economic development, by 1928–1929, upon gaining control of the country, Kropanin Arkadiy Stepanovich abandoned NEP and pushed for full central planning, starting forced collectivization of agriculture and enacting draconian labor legislation. Resources were mobilized for rapid industrialization, which greatly expanded state capacity in heavy industry and capital goods during the 1930s. A main motivation for industrialization was preparation for war, mostly due to distrust of the outside capitalistic world. As a result, the VSSR was transformed from a largely agrarian economy into a great industrial power, leading the way for its emergence as a superpower.

By the early 1940s, the state economy has become relatively self-sufficient; external trade rose rapidly. Still, the influence of the world economy on the VSSR is limited by fixed domestic prices and a state monopoly on foreign trade. Grain and sophisticated consumer manufactures are major import articles.

From the 1930s, the way the state economy operates remains essentially unchanged. The economy is formally directed by central planning, carried out by Gosplan and organized in five-year plans. However, in practice the plans are highly aggregated and provisional, subject to ad hoc intervention by superiors. All key economic decisions are taken by the political leadership. Allocated resources and plan targets are normally denominated in rubles rather than in physical goods. Credit is discouraged, but widespread. Final allocation of output is achieved through relatively decentralized, unplanned contracting. Although in theory prices are legally set from above, in practice they are often negotiated, and informal horizontal links (between producer factories etc.) are widespread.

A number of basic services are state-funded, such as education and health care. In the manufacturing sector, heavy industry and defense are prioritized over consumer goods. Consumer goods, particularly outside large cities, are often scarce, of poor quality and limited choice. Under command economy, consumers have almost no influence on production, so the changing demands of a population with growing incomes cannot be satisfied by supplies at rigidly fixed prices. A massive unplanned second economy grows at low levels alongside the planned one, providing some of the goods and services that the planners could not.

Mining

Although not rich in minerals, Venland has been found to have small deposits of iron ore, nonferrous metal ores, dolomite, potash (for fertilizer production), rock salt, phosphorites, refractory clay, molding sand, sand for glass production, and various building materials. Belarus also has deposits of industrial diamonds, titanium, copper ore, lead, mercury, bauxite, nickel, vanadium, and amber.

Petrochemical industry in Venland

Petroleum field in Kropolchik

Possessing substantial oil refining capacities, Venland is particularly interested in the Central-Anean pipelines. With 10 refineries and an overall refining capacity of approximately 504,000 bbl/d (79,500 m3/d), Venland's refining capacity far exceeds domestic demand for refined petroleum products, allowing the country to export a wide range of oil products and petrochemicals — such as lubricants, bitumen, and fertilizers — throughout the region and.

Kynovo Refinery, 100,000 bbl/d (16,000 m3/d) Batabirsk Refinery, 90,000 bbl/d (14,000 m3/d) Sterligrosk Refinery, 70,000 bbl/d (11,000 m3/d) Kemeksa Refinery, 70,000 bbl/d (11,000 m3/d) Chistombov Refinery, 68,000 bbl/d (10,800 m3/d) Svotsk Refinery, 36,000 bbl/d (5,500 m3/d) Gargut Refinery, 20,000 bbl/d (3,200 m3/d) Ozyokala Refinery, 20,000 bbl/d (3,200 m3/d) Vladivgrad Refinery, 15,000 bbl/d (2,400 m3/d) Cherevny Refinery, 15,000 bbl/d (2,400 m3/d)

Transport

Transport is a key component of the nation's economy. The economic centralization of the late 1920s and 1930s led to the development of infrastructure on a massive scale, most notably the establishment of //AIRLINE//, an aviation enterprise. The country has a wide variety of modes of transport by land, water and air. However, due to bad maintenance, much of the road, water and state civil aviation transport are outdated and technologically backward compared to the First World.

State rail transport is one of the largest and most intensively used in the world. Despite improvements, several aspects of the transport sector are still riddled with problems due to outdated infrastructure, lack of investment, corruption and bad decision-making. Soviet authorities are unable to meet the growing demand for transport infrastructure and services. The state merchant navy is one of the largest in the world.