Overview

Liernma, officially the Most Serene Republic of Liernma (Liernmese: Serenísima República de Liernma), is a country located in The Western Isles. Liernma has an estimated population of 14,173,730 Liernmans across eight departments.

Fiercely criticized by most of the international community, Liernma remains one of the longest-surviving authoritarian regimes in the world. Said regime, which constantly refers its critics to the country’s continued annual economic growth, is fiercely conservative, corporatist, syndicalist, and ultranationalist, defending the country's traditional Roman Catholic roots and opposed to communism, socialism, anarchism, liberalism and secularism.

Etymology

The word Liernma derives from the Bruchesian Lerna, or "land of Edna", referring to the legendary queen of the Bruchesia region in the Liernman epic poem Poerio ē una Lucshia (literally "Poem of a Struggle") and was first used by the Kingdom of Jeseria and Liernma. Common pre-Liernman variant spellings were Lyerma and Lyernma. Modern Liernma is still named Lerna today in Bruchesian-Liernmese.

The standard way to refer to a citizen of Liernma is as a "Liernman."

History

Foundation

In 1375, the death the last feudal Lord of Liernma without an heir brought massive political instability to his lands. Several foreign armies tried to annex the territory for personal gain due to the bustling timber trade but were repelled by local militias who, after several years, gave themselves a unified republican government in 1391. Ten years later, the changing geopolitical scene in the region saw the new regime being granted formal protection by larger powers in exchange for trade concessions. After a decisive internal pacification campaign, regular popular assemblies were created to monitored the power of the executive. These meetings defined the collective conscience for a Liernman nation and helped cement close alliances between the individual communities. At the same time prominent families dominated Liernma, most notably the Güesta family, who gained influence in foreign affairs by sponsoring new faces in music, literature, architecture, and visual arts to embellish urban centers and develop them as havens for cultural exchange. In 1410 they established a standing council and appointed Silverio Güesta as feudal overlord. Güesta appointed his eldest son Berardo as Count of Cebrián and eventual successor, marrying him to Sila of Bruchesia and unifying the two most influential feudal families of the time. Following Silverio's death in 1459, Bruchesia was officially under Liernman control and Berardo assumed the royal title as king of Liernma and Bruchesia, for the first time associating a royal title with the rule of Liernma. Subsequently, foreign diplomas would grant more privileges towards the evolution of Liernma into a de facto oligarchical monarchy, with the Kingdom of Liernma being officially proclaimed on 8 February 1528.

Civil Strife

By 1663, the Polanco family, allying themselves with disenfranchised noblemen, began a war with king Alonso II. At the Battle of Árias, family patriarch Pedro Javier de Polanco was killed, leaving the House of Güesta as the undisputed rulers of Liernma. Alonso II then allied himself with border lords and annexed their lands, granting them Liernman titles of nobility whilst expanding his realm to its present size.

Internal conflict of such magnitude would not be seen again until the late 1820s, when conservative forces opposing Berardo III's liberal reforms attacked and invaded Cebrián, forcing the king to personally lead his army to victory at the Battle of Cebrián. After the battle, conservatives in Tavilves received the fleeing rebel leaders, granting them refuge, and unsuccessfully tried to establish a separate state. Royal forces laid siege to the Tavilvesian capital of Solavega and recovered it within three weeks. As a result, Berardo III appointed a liberal government that started a period of industrialization and limited the rights of the church and the merchant oligarchy. During the following decade, as railroads and street lighting spread across the country, the king personally decreed several amnesties for imprisoned rebel veterans. Further decades of reform led to Liernma being transformed into a de jure constitutional monarchy.

Totalitarian State

After the approval of the Liernman Constitution of 1893 and the establishment of parliamentary democracy by the early 20th century, the Reformist Party (Partido Reformista) emerged as the dominant force in Liernman politics for the next sixty years. During the period of Reformist control, the state increased its role in the economy. In 1974, voters elected Ander León as prime minister, bringing his Independent Revolutionary Socialist Union (Unión Socialista Revolucionaria Independiente, USRI) fully into power for the first time.

On 3 June 1988, nearly a hundred years of constitutional rule came to an end when Lieutenant Colonel Licinio Telesforo Agramunt, claiming that León was planning a Communist takeover, carried out a coup d'état with the support of Ceferino Domínguez, leader of the Unitary Republican Tradition (Tradición Republicana Unitaria, TRU) party, and other disgruntled right-wing leaders. They established an anti-communist State Defense Council (Consejo de Defensa del Estado). The formation of the State Defense Council was simultaneously announced on ELT and ERL at 8:07 a.m. Domínguez and Agramunt both spoke, with the former claiming that León had been planning a leftist self-coup. Other speakers that morning included prominent leaders from the business and religion sectors. The council, which included representatives from most of the political parties and groups who had opposed León, soon issued an official decree suspending the 1893 constitution and Parliament and establishing itself as the country's supreme authority. Agramunt was designated as its president and proceeded to appoint military officers loyal to himself to most leading government positions. Shortly after, the council established an advisory committee to draft the current constitution, approved by referendum in 1990, that named Agramunt head of state for life as Chief Guarantor. Beforehand, with the support of departmental prefects, Agramunt had already consolidated support for his rule within Liernma by suspending civil liberties, banning trade unions, and jailing, torturing and executing opposition figures as well as former allies. The dictatorship's most famous show of power came in early 1989, when urban workers in Cebrián staged an uprising and the subsequent crackdown resulted in the arrest and deportation of union leaders, as well as closing down the workers' factories.

During the entirety of the Agramunt regime, TRU has been the only legal party and no opposition candidates have been permitted to run in legislative elections. Therefore, the party has won all seats in elections to the Chamber of Delegates since 1991. Several trade unions and business associations function as corporativist organizations that represent workers and their employers, respectively, and take part (separately) in elections to the Economic and Labor Chamber. Before taking office, members of the civil service are requested to register in TRU or an official union, swearing allegiance to the Chief Guarantor.

_{Flag of the TRU party alongside the Flag of Agramuntist Liernma}

Opposition

After the State Defense Council was formed, king Ferdinand III and the Royal Government left the country while a domestic National Collective for the Restoration of Democracy (Colectivo Nacional por la Restauración de la Democracia, CORD) was formed on 18 June 1988 with Miguel Turrión as general secretary to wage an ongoing guerrilla war against the new regime. Government secrecy prevents the reporting of accurate information regarding CORD's actions inside Liernma.

On 24 February 2003, the Royal Government-in-Exile, seeking to encourage cooperation between the various political, labour and social forces of the opposition to Agramunt's regime, officially launched the Dirección Democrática (Democratic Directorate) through a resolution in favour of amnesty, civil liberties, and a call for free & fair elections to dismantle all Agramuntist institutions. In addition to mass-supported social and labour groups, the Democratic Directorate includes the Liernman Communist Party (Partido Comunista de Liernma, PCL), the Independent Revolutionary Socialist Union (Unión Socialista Revolucionaria Independiente, USRI), and the Popular Socialist Front (Frente Popular Socialista, FPS).

Demographics

Population

The Most Serene Republic of Liernma is a safe nation, renowned for its frequent executions, triple-decker prams, and compulsory military service. The devout population of 14 million Liernmans, kept under strict control by the oppressive government, are highly moralistic and fiercely conservative, in the sense that they tend to believe most things should be outlawed. People who have good jobs and work quietly at them are lauded; others are viewed with suspicion.

Language

Liernmese (Liernmés) is the official language of Liernma. It is a Romance language that is derived from Bruchesian-Liernmese, which was spoken in what is now Bruchesia and Western Liernma. The Liernmese language is derived from the Latin spoken by Pre-Liernman peoples of the land around 3,000 years ago. English is also recognized as a co-official national language and originated predominant dialects in some localities of Eastern Liernma.

Religion

Catholics constitute 92% of the population while 2% of the population are followers of the protestant Indigen Church of Liernma and the remaining 5% are reported as irreligious. The Chief Guarantor orders that basic Catholic principles be taught in public schools. Religious institutions, including Catholic schools and churches, operate with government support. Religious classes are held in both schools and churches, with instruction in Latin, the Bible, and history of Christianity. At present, all institutions of higher education have a theological faculty. While religious figures and entities are encouraged to involve themselves in government affairs, particularly the definition of central policies, government propaganda repeatedly presents Agramunt as a savior of Christ-like proportions. To this day, the government prevents many religious minorities from practicing their faith and openly persecutes them.

Largest Cities

Government

According to the Liernman constitution, ultimate power is concentrated in the Chief Guarantor of the Constitution, who possesses an inviolable authority, and Liernma does not have an official separation of powers. The Chief Guarantor approves the budget, appoints the Cabinet Leader (who is head of government), the ministers, the judges, and can grant pardons and commute sentences. The Guarantor exerts supreme command over the armed forces and has the power to ratify treaties with other countries. The Cabinet Leader, in turn, facilitates the carrying out of major policy decisions and runs the day-to-day government. They are helped by the Cabinet in implementing national policies and ensuring the administrative enforcement of all legislation.

The Liernman legislature is the tricameral Legislative Body, consisting of a lower house, the Chamber of Delegates (responsible for drafting general legislation), a middle chamber, the Chamber of Regions (containing 250 members over the age of 40 who review and approve it), and an upper chamber, the Economic and Labor Chamber (responsible for enacting legislation on work and socioeconomic matters after being proposed by a membership that includes union representatives, business delegates, maritime & agrarian representatives, consumers, and representatives of the social economy). Nevertheless, legislative power rests with the Chief Guarantor and the government. All bills passed by the Legislative Body are presented to the Chief Guarantor for revisal and consideration before they become laws. If the Chief Guarantor finds it improper for a bill to become law, they return it, together with their written objections, to the Economic and Labor Chamber or the Chamber of Delegates, depending on where the bill originated, who then proceed to reconsider it. A bill, however, cannot be enacted as law over the objections of the Chief Guarantor, who can also dissolve the legislature at will. Political parties are banned, as are any affiliations based on religion. The middle chamber has 250 members, appointed by the Chief Guarantor from the various lists previously created by departmental legislatures and approved through popular vote. The 515 members of the Chamber of Delegates are elected by universal suffrage to serve five-year terms. The Economic and Labor Chamber is appointed for three-year terms, which may be renewed once.

The medium-sized, moralistic, well-organized government juggles the competing demands of Law & Order, Defense, and Spirituality. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Cebrián. The average income tax rate is 47.0%, but much higher for the wealthy.

The judiciary, led by the National Court of Cassation, is subordinate to the Chief Guarantor and acts in their name. The administration of justice is highly personalized, with limited due process protections, especially in political and security-related cases. The tribunals are divided into tribunals of first instance, courts of appeal, courts of revision, and the aforementioned National Court of Cassation. The judges are appointed by the Chief Guarantor to serve seven-year terms of office.

Liernma is divided into eight departments, each headed by a prefect. The prefect is the national representative in each department, and has two main functions: the first is to implement the administrative decisions of the central government and to control the local authorities, the second is leadership of the police. Prefects are in turn departmental heads of the TRU single party. The local legislative body is the general council, composed of representatives of the communes. The prefect appoints the prefecture council, composed of five or seven members chosen from nominations submitted by the General Council. Such prefecture councils serve as the departmental administration and have powers over taxes and public works and, generally, represent local interests. The departments are divided into districts headed by vice-prefects, which have powers similar to those of the prefect, but for a smaller area. However, the structure of the districts is not uniform over all Liernman territory, and some districts are administered by a district council and a síndico de gobierno (mayor). The districts are divided into communes. Communes with more than 3,000 inhabitants have a communal council of thirty or forty members, chosen by the General Council from nominations submitted by the same communal council. In the smaller communes, all taxpayers are councillors. The council elects a municipality of three to nine members, helped in its executive functions by a communal secretary. Each commune has a local tax collector.

Culture

Current legislation prohibits criticism of the Chief Guarantor and government in any form or medium. Liernma's police (PGI) do not need search warrants to enter people's homes. All major public areas are watched by PGI surveillance cameras. Torture is commonly used to extract information from suspected criminals. The law does not provide citizens with the right to change their government. The Chief Guarantor retains ultimate authority on all foreign and domestic issues. Government officials are not subject to financial disclosure laws. Libel laws and concerns for national security have been used to suppress criticism of government figures and politically objectionable views. All telephone traffic is monitored for 'national security reasons'. Publication of books is limited and the government restricts their importation and distribution, as with other media products. Loss of the ability to speak is a common affliction of the elderly, those found guilty of illicit affairs are jailed, panels from bankrupt rooftop solar companies are used as props for sci-fi B-movies, weekly religious services often resemble campaign rallies, it takes months to get the proper permits for a child's first tricycle, residents of ageing concrete tower blocks have vital renovation work stopped by Brutalism enthusiasts, the rich tend their gardens inside gated urban farming communities, large areas of Liernma are not accessible by the public, illegal book-trafficking rings dominate the black market, euthanasia is illegal, the tinfoil-hat crowd also recommend tinfoil wallets, supermarkets must refund spoilt milk even six months after the sale, citizens are prohibited from raising their voice above thirty decibels in commercial districts, insanely good theatre productions face government censorship, pregnant hitchhikers with signs requesting rides to "competent care" are a common sight on Liernman roads, and nursing mothers are often arrested for indecent exposure. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to the very well-funded Policía Gubernativa Integral (PGI) (Integral Government Police) and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Liernma's national animal is the Valley Wolf, which teeters on the brink of extinction due to widespread deforestation.

Flag

On 2 September 1830, after the decades-long proliferation of various royal and military flags, king Berardo III decreed the pattern for a single national flag of Liernma: a white-gold-green horizontal tricolor with the historical coat of arms of the king of Liernma and Bruchesia within the canton side of the white stripe. This design, which employed the traditional Liernman and Bruchesian colors immediately became a point of contention with nationalistic Bruchesians who had seen their lands divided into several departments of the Liernman kingdom. Soon after, its use at the Royal Court was simultaneous with that of the royal flag.

In 1989, by decree of Licinio Agramunt as president of the State Defense Council, a new flag consisting of a green field with a gold-bordered white canton (initially blank but later containing the coat of arms of the new regime) was adopted as the sole national flag. When this flag is placed on top of a coffin, the canton must always be on the right of the deceased person's head and the coat of arms is altered so that its obverse side is shown horizontally. This display is also expected when the flag is flown vertically, with the canton (containing the altered coat or arms) to the observer's left. Agramunt's decree replaced nearly all previous designs with the new flag, which was to be used on land and as a war and civil ensign. No other flags can be flown by public institutions or private citizens. Nevertheless, Liernman Flag Day remained on 2 September.

The old flag is still used by the Royal Government-in-Exile and other opposition groups as the "legitimate" flag of the Liernman authorities and people.

_{Flag of the Kingdom of Liernma (currently used by the Royal Government-in-Exile)}

Mass media

Liernma is one of the countries with the worst freedom of the press situation, consistently ranking within the bottom twenty spots of the Journalistic Freedoms Guide (as of 2023). The Ministry of Archives, Information and National Propaganda is Liernma's main government department responsible for public relations, including activities regarding communications, information, and a broad censorship apparatus. All print media is forced to include any articles the government wants published. Chief editors are nominated by the government and all journalists are required to be registered. All liberal, royalist and left-wing publications remain prohibited.

Liernma's first newspapers were published during the reign of Ferdinand I during the mid-18th century. Most of the newspapers published in Liernma are in Liernmese, the country's native language. The country's most widely circulated periodicals are based in Cebrián, among which are Página, El Discurso, Correo de Liernma, Avisos, El Lector, and Prensa Periódica. The Emssi Journal, Mail and Trader, New Liernma, North, Cebrián News Record, and The Urban-Leader are among English-language newspapers based in Liernma. Popular magazines include: Ilustraciones Liernmesas, Comercial y Noticiosa, 8-F, Lugares, and Settimana. Over two-thirds of the newspapers and magazines are directly owned by either the TRU party or the aforementioned Information Ministry.

Liernma has a limited number of media outlets, with prominence taken by the national television channels. Ente Liernmés de Televisión (ELT), founded in 1955 and beginning full color programming in 1978, is Liernma's public broadcasting corporation. ELT, whose income is fully funded by a broadcast receiver license and sponsorship revenue, runs two television channels. Liernma also possesses a small choice of private free-to-air television channels, mainly Canal Social (CASO) and Multiplicidad de Señales Coordinadas (MSC), as there are several restrictions on non-domestic television. The Ente Radiofónico Liernmés (ERL) state radio has the exclusive right to transmit news bulletins, which all broadcasters are required to air.

Despite the blocking of direct access to many worldwide mainstream websites, including social media sites, millions of users based in Liernma use virtual private networks and proxy servers to access such sites.

Sports

Sport is employed by the Agramuntist regime as a distraction for the masses, and the Chief Guarantor exploits Liernman sports competitions, mainly the Copa de Su Excelencia El Garante Principal (His Excellency The Chief Guarantor's Cup), the Copa del Concejo Distrital de Cebrián (Cebrián District Council's Cup), the Copa Concurso Liernma (Liernma Contest Cup), and the Regata del Garante (Guarantor's Regatta), to magnify his personal image. The regime approves the calendar of all major sports clubs, deciding whether or not to hold matches and if these are to be televised or broadcast through the radio at all. Moreover, the Bandería Juvenil (youth section) of the TRU is responsible for organizing a variety of athletic activities consistent with Agramuntist values for the country's youth.

Economy

The Liernman economy, worth about 2.1 trillion escudos a year (RP), is broadly diversified and led by the Beef-Based Agriculture industry, with major contributions from Arms Manufacturing, Uranium Mining, and Retail. Black market activity is notable. State-owned companies are common and the government measures its own success by the nation's GDP. Average income is 154,856 escudos, and evenly distributed, with the richest citizens earning only 4.9 times as much as the poorest.