Jyugoku

Jyugoku, also known as Chiumoshir or the Free Republic (: ꡅꡞꡟ ꡂꡟꡘꡟꡏꡡꡚꡞꡘ Chiu Gurumoshir, Libimilasi: ነፃኪያዋኩኩ Net͟s’a Minkuku, : 自由民国 Jiyū minkoku), is a country located on the North-Western tip of Osova. It shares a maritime border with Sahil.

Jyugoku is a vast country comprised of a number of various ecoregions, many of whom have their own unique people, language, and history. The extreme biodiversity of the nation is evident in the ecological range from pleasant, lush coastal plains to vast jungles and jagged, high-altitude, forested mountain ranges. The nation has a population of just over 98 million people according to the 2010 census, though their ethnic make-up is highly varied and diversified, which has led to intense ethnic, social, and political disputes during the decades both prior to and after independence. The most prominent group within the nation are the Libi, who are related to earlier, sedentary agriculturalists along the north and west coastal plains of the nation. Other prominent minorities include the Mokko'o and the Bokki-ti, both of whom live in Jyugoku's hinterland and have had a tumultuous relationship with both the Libi and the Chiseian colonizers. Another significant minority within Jyugoku are Jyugokuans and the related Abi-Ma, who are the descendants of Chiseian colonists within Jyugoku, and who give the country its namesake.

Nominally, Jyugoku is comprised of 22 provinces and 2 autonomous tribal kingdoms, though only a small number of these provinces are in the control of the central government. The largest city, Kotojinso, is also the nation's capitol, and has around 2,342,100 people in it according to the 2018 census. Since 2011, the nation has been fractured as a result of a political coup that was not widely recognized among provincial governors. Since then, a series of large-scale and small-scale conflicts have been fought between the central government and these governors in a process the Ordic League has termed as warlordism. Theoretically, the Military Commissioner of the Provisional Government is in complete control of the nation, but he controls little territory outside of the capitol.

Before the 2011 Coup, Jyugoku was considered a developing country with a steadily-rising human development index and a decent standard of living for some of their people. However, nearly a decade of civil war and warlordism has stripped much of the country of its wealth. During the military government of 1977-2011, Jyugoku was considered to be an up-and-coming regional power. However, since 2011, this status has changed. Jyugoku is a member state of the Ordic League, though as of 2012, its membership has been suspended as a result of the leadership dispute among various provincial governors, and as such no legal authority has been recognized by the League.

Independence
In 1959, Chisei officially gave Jyugoku its independence, with Chiseian colonial authorities withdrawing by the beginning of the year and elections set to be held by the end. During the period between the decolonisation and the election, Jyugoku was ruled by a council of bureaucrats and native members of the former colonial administration. During the election season, the constitution forged in part by Jyugokuans and Chiseians was already showing some problematic elements.

In the urban and coastal districts, Jyugokuan parties had a marked advantage, while in the hinterland, almost everyone - mostly non-Jyugokuans - was entirely disenfranchised. Following the 1959 election, a coalition of the socially-conservative Farmer's Interest Party and the right-wing, urbanite People's Democratic Union for Jyugoku formed a coalition. The latter was a party primarily supported by the urban elite, who used their large amount of funds to ensure victory in the over-represented cities, through legal and illegal means. The Farmer's Interest Party, despite its name, was a front for coastal and south-western agricultural landholders.

Almost immediately, the multiple native groups, long disenfranchised by Chiseian colonial authorities, immediately lost any faith of true representation in the post-colonial state. Many native intellectuals would begin to view Jyugoku as "post-colonial colonialism". Despite this, however, tensions simmered, but remained civil for the most part. Democratic participation among non-Jyugokuans faltered, then plummeted in subsequent elections. By the mid-60's, provincial laws, especially in the south-west, barred native participation entirely. The Eyaso Province, a stronghold of the FIP, implemented poll taxes and literacy tests, and a number of interior provinces did as well.

Due to low levels of income and literacy for many natives, combined with a lack of belief in the Jyugokuan democratic process, often meant that non-Jyugokuan political participation was usually as low as 5%.

In the 60's, the FIP-PDUJ alliance solidified, and through voter manipulation and democratic subversion, achieved an absolute majority in the 1963 parliament elections. During this time, the parties looked after their own support bases, while mostly ignoring the vast, mostly-unexplored interior, where rich capitalists often went to exploit vast reserves of mineral wealth, and worse. Shortly after 1963, the now-infamous Alengae Meherke began the first Jyugokuan cartel, importing and planting coca plants.

Rather than address the root cause of Meherke's rise or the actual burgeoning drug trade itself, the government began entering into shady deals with Meherke and his cartel under the guise of "bringing democracy to the interior". In exchange for turning a blind eye to Meherke's drug trade, the FIP-PDUJ alliance would receive financial aid from the drug lord, who also promised to essentially govern the then-lawless interior for them. The government began a phony drug war against Meherke to ensure the public and international scene would believe they were trying to act.

They put one Shakushain Kuuchinklo, a native Jyugokuan trained in Chisei and Endwar veteran, in charge of the drug war.

Military Coup
In 1975, an unauthorised raid of one of the Meherke Cartel's bases of operation was conducted by Shakushain. Going against government warnings not to assault the location, he failed to secure any important cartel personnel, but did secure a number of incriminating documents that linked certain cartel individuals to the government. Despite being tipped off that Shakushain had seized the documents, the government did not act against him. Documents released following the coup show that the administration was worried about the mutually assured destruction that would occur if they removed him from his post.

For two more years, Shakushain intensified his struggle against the cartel despite his lack of resources provided by the government. During this time, he secured evidence in the form of paper trails, signed confessions, blackmail and bribery that revealed the connection between the government and the country's biggest drug lord. On May 1st, 1977, Shakushain released all of his evidence, publishing it internationally in what he called "Freedom Day". Following this, he made a public appearance demanding that the government step down.

Following a failure to respond, Shakushain rallied his forces and marched to Kotojinso, picking up garrisons on the way. By the time that he had reached the capital, nearly the entire Jyugokuan security force was with him. The capital guards stood aside and let Shakushain detain the cabinet, while the prime minister fled abroad. Martial law was declared, the decades-long FIP-PDUJ alliance was dissolved, and hundreds of politicians were jailed or interrogated over their roles in their cooperation with Meherke.

Following this, Shakushain declared the Mandate for the Stabilisation of Jyugoku, a temporary government that had the interest of restoring democracy in a proper, truly representative way, following the destruction of extremist elements and the drug trade. Shakushain gave himself until the end of 1982 to accomplish this, before transitioning away from military rule.

The cartel, worried that Shakushain's coup would mean the death of their business, began a full-fledged war against Shakushain. In the Bleeding Years, between 1977 and 1980, an alliance of drug lords, international mercenaries, and local independence movements fought against the military government, but ultimately lost.

In 1982, the year the military strongman's self-imposed mandate was set to expire, Kuuchinklo made a public appearance and claimed that, despite his earlier intentions, Jyugoku was not ready for democracy, and would require a period of military rule to bring peace and education regarding good government to the people. Despite widespread international opposition, Shakushain's decision was relatively popular among Jyugokuans, but disliked by non-Jyugokuans.

During this time, he expanded the military, launched a full-fledged war on the cartels, and disassembled the centuries-old land-owning gentry class throughout much of Jyugoku. He also implemented a number of populist reforms, including a minimum wage, public healthcare, and a tiered tax system. However, he also introduced mandatory conscription and spent large amounts of money on both importing foreign weapons and kickstarting a native arms manufacturing industry.

His war on drugs and corruption began to lose steam as his health deteriorated in the 2000's. He increasingly delegated responsibilities to other military officers, and in a controversial move, in 2002, reformed the provincial administrations, implementing a joint military-civilian system that effectively defanged civilian opposition to his rule.

In 2008, following a serious deterioration in his health, he publicly lauded his nephew, Shakushain Akihi, as his successor. This decision was wildly unpopular both among civilians, who expected a restoration of a civilian administration following Shakushain's death or retirement, and the military, who generally disliked Akihi and viewed him as both too young and inexperienced.

Collapse of the Government
In February, 2011, Shakushain Kuuchinklo suffered a series of strokes, the last of which put the dictator into a coma. Suspecting that the long-time leader of Jyugoku was not long for this world, numerous factions sprung up in attempts to secure power for themselves. Prime among these factions was Kuuchinklo's nephew and successor-designate, Shakushain Akihi, who had been working for the past three years on solidifying a non-existence power base in the face of widespread opposition. Akihi feared that if he was not able to seize power himself, other factions would view him as a liability. Using this as a justification, Akihi announced on March 3rd, 2011, that he had been appointed by a barely-lucid Kuuchinklo as the de facto leader of the country until further notice.

The dubious nature of this claim allowed Akihi, in theory, to assume the reins of power. However, a number of older officers who nurtured a dislike of Akihi and his younger allies, refused to obey Akihi's orders. Orders were made and countermanded, and by mid-April of the same year, no one had any idea of who they should be reporting to. Akihi lost direct control of a number of the army's divisions which had declared their allegiance to obscure ideas such as the state, freedom, the republic, or, perhaps most indicative of the conflict to come, their immediate superior officers.

In June, 2011, Akihi mustered a large force and marched towards Eyaso, the nexus of unrest and turmoil since he seized power. Eyaso, being a major city and the location of one of Jyugoku's most prestigious officer's schools gave it special prominence. The military head of the Eyaso province, Chikap Anchikar, took to international television to deride Akihi's move, famously stating "Who is he to claim that his uncle gave him the right to rule? I do not claim to hear the whispers of a man in a coma and declare that I have heard the word of the Gods".

Chikap mobilised his garrison and met Akihi's forces. Tensions boiled over and fighting erupted between the two armed camps. The skirmish left hundreds of Jyugokuan soldiers dead and signaled the beginning of the Jyugokuan Civil War. While Chikap blunted his rival's assault, the pair would undergo continual reversals of fortune as the nation continued to fracture.

By 2016, the Quilau Ceasefire Accords were signed by most of the belligerents in the civil war, temporarily bringing an end to the conflicts and ensuring that civilians would be able to receive foreign and domestic aid. Since then, most parties have respected the Accords. However, in late 2020, Shakushain Akihi's Jyugoku Peace Preservation League began mobilising their armed forces, causing reactions among many of the JPPL's rivals.