Democratic People's Republic of Erusia
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Democratic People's Republic of Erusia | |
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 Flag
 Coat of arms
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| Motto: From Unity, Strength | |
| Anthem: Erusian Internationale | |
| File:United Kingdom, Liverpool | |
| Capital and largest city | Erus City |
| Official languages | English, Erusian |
| Demonym(s) | Erusian |
| Government | Single-party socialist state |
• Premier | Kenneth Maisano (First) Kai Roosevelt (Last) |
| Kenneth Maisano | |
| Legislature | National People's Assembly of Erusia |
| Establishment | October 27 2008 (original) November 9 2008 (Republic) |
| Population | |
• Census | 15,060+ territorial residents 71 citizens |
| Currency | Erusian State Credit |
| Time zone | UTC |
The Democratic People's Republic of Erusia (IPA: [ əɹuziːɐ ]) (DPRE) (Erusian: Verzu Ehazova Qaevaxu Zaaxhia), commonly known plainly as Erusia (Verzu eg Zaiv) was a micronational state that had originally been founded on October 27, 2008 as a constitutional monarchy and reformed to a democratic republic on November 8th of that year. After the 2009 Erusian Political Crisis, Erusia became a single-party socialist republic under the absolute leadership of the Erusian National Communist Party, who first came to power in November 2008. Since November the communist party systematically eliminated all alleged political opposition to its rule, gradually transforming the nation from a free multi-party democracy to a single-party socialist state.
Under communist rule, the Democratic People's Republic was seen to prosper both politically and socially. It became one of the most influential members of its main community and was renowned for its commitment to progressive socio-economic development. In particular, Erusia stood out for the apparent high number of women and minorities in its government, its tolerance and acceptance of such minorities, an unusually active government and a strict internal bureaucratic structure rivaled by few other micronations. Critics of the Erusian government attacked the DPRE for what they perceive to be repeated human rights violations, a record of political repression, opposition to democracy and a hardline Socialist foreign policy.
The Democratic People's Republic adhered to its unique ideology of Rennie-Gaffneyism, named for the founders of the Democratic People's Republic of Bzan. It was the leading member state of the Union of Socialist Micronational Republics throughout that micronation's history, and today Bzan - its spiritual ancestor - is one of the four semi-autonomous regions of Erusia. According to the Central People's Government of Erusia, the inevitable goal of Erusia was to "achieve a classless, Stateless and truly Communistic society in which all are free and equal" and to "demonstrate the micronational movement can become a powerful weapon in the global revolutionary struggle against Capitalism and Imperialist oppression".
On July 30, 2010, Erusia decided to terminate its own existence. Following this, the 'Lethler Experiment', where it was proven, and indeed, openly admitted by Robert Lethler, that the entire Erusian micronation was a fabrication, used to further his own means, which are as of yet known only to very few micronationalists, sworn to secrecy.
Etymology
The name of the Democratic People's Republic was derived from the Latin Erus, meaning lord or master. Within the context of the Erusian language, the term Erusia (Verzu eg Zaiv) means Land of Masters. The name was originally chosen by the short-lived Erusian Monarchy to reflect the aristocratic nature of their planned society, but under the Communist Party it was taken to refer to a country in which the People are the masters of the nation. It is worth noting that in Erusian, the official name of the nation was the Erusian People's Democratic Republic, but the Central People's Government of Erusia rejected proposals to change the official English name.
History
Monarchy and First Red Reformation
Erusia was originally created as the successor to the United Royal Kingdom of Licentia and Bzan, making it the eight micronational state of the Licentian civilisation, on October 27th 2008. Erusia was - in theory - a compromise between Licentian royalists and Bzanite communists, with a new Monarchy and a democratically-elected government. Although the International Community of Bzanites had initially accepted the agreement and elected retired military officer Robert Lethler to lead them into this uneasy alliance, within days the agreement between the two was in tatters. The Bzanite communists called for the creation of a socialist republic and an end to Licentian monarchy once and for all and, on 8 November 2008, the communists took power and declared the beginning of the Red Reformation. Lethler declared himself to be Premier of Erusia and later that same day implemented the National Constitution of the Democratic People's Republic of Erusia.
Communist Rule November - December 2008
A day after the foundation of the Democratic People's Republic, the new Socialist government expelled all those who were unwilling to become part of the new revolutionary regime. On that same day the former Bzanite communists came together for what is now considered to be the 1st National Congress of the ENCP and declared the official foundation of the Erusian National Communist Party, marking the beginning of de facto communist rule in Erusia. The young socialist government immediately set about reforming the state to the best of its ability, seeking to purge all aspects of the short-lived Monarchy and instead establish a solid framework for what was then a free, multi-party Democratic Republic (albeit one based on the principles of Socialist Fundamentalism). The Party also set about its early legislative work, creating laws to protect the rights of workers, women, homosexuals and other minority groups that the Party sought to equalise the social station of. On November 10 Robert Lethler had been elected to serve as the first Supreme People's Commissioner of Erusia.
One of the major obstacles facing the Erusian government was the low levels of citizenship. In late November three people had joined Erusia to from the People's Democratic Front, a social liberal opposition party, and the Communist Party had found itself forced to declare an executive election for December. When all ballots had been cast in the December 2008 Executive Election, the Erusian government arranged for an independent ballot checker in the People's Republic of Yongheng to verify the results of the election. According to Maria Carlisle, leader of the opposition during the election, the Communist Party was guilty of electoral fraud and had instructed Yonghengese officials to alter the ballot to ensure their power. The Front also asserted that the Communist Party prevented key individuals from voting for fear that the election would result in their defeat. On December 21 Maria Carlisle declared that she had the support of the Republic of Petorio and that she demanded an immediate recount or second election. The Erusian National Communist Party continued to assert that it won a decisive victory and that it will not authorise any recount. Upon hearing that Petorio had withdrawn its support for Maria Carlisle, Kai Roosevelt issued a public statement declaring that the matter would be submitted to the courts for verification.
Second Red Reformation
With criticism from Bzan and Erusia's ideological father, P J Gaffney, the communist government drastically shifted its policy away from being in favour of multi-party democracy to being in favour of a single-party state. In January 2009 a Second Red Reformation was launched resulting in constitutional reform that established the Communist Party as the supreme political authority in the nation and the only political party permitted to govern the nation at an executive, national level. This stabilised the political situation in Erusia and quieted criticism from within and without the nation, allowing the Communist Party to continue its reforms. The Second Red Reformation inevitably saw the Party take on a more hardline, anti-democracy approach and began to systematically repress the democracy movement (which had now been forced to join together to form a token opposition party).
Erusia in the USMR
When the Union of Socialist Micronational Republics was founded, the Democratic People's Republic immediately became its leading member state. The power and influence of Erusia expanded exponentially at this point, with the nation holding great influence on the internal political affairs of both Licentia and Bzan. Erusia became almost synomynous with the Union itself. Throughout the three months it was a member of the USMR, the Erusia National Communist Party continued its internal political and socio-economic reforms and development with very little interruption or interference from the All-Union government, whilst Licentia often found itself being forced to take on new policies and pass new laws due to pressure from the Union to reform towards Rennie-Gaffenyism. When the USMR eventually collapsed following the Licentian counter-revolution, Bzan and Erusia unified at last, and give birth to an even more powerful Erusia.
Third Red Reformation
In June 2009 the ruling Communist Party announced it was launching a Third Red Reformation. The Party introduced a new National Constitution to give itself more power but at the same time loosen restrictions on other parties, restoring proper multi-party democracy and elections for the office of Supreme People's Commissioner. In July however, the Communist Party completely backtracked on all its promises and annonced it was outlawing all other political parties. The constitution was amended officially on July 4, 2009 and the remaining Democracy activists decided the time had come to leave Erusia once and for all, with their Independent Communist supporters - who had arrived in late June - joining with the ruling ENCP.
Government and politics
The Democratic People's Republic of Erusia was a Single-party state and socialist republic. The third historical but only remaining Rennie-Gaffneyist State in the world, Erusia was nominally a Communist Democracy and free democratic republic. The National Constitution defined the DPRE as being "an independent, atheistic Socialist Republic that is the physical embodiment of the People's Revolution and thus was a State established by the People, for the People" and also as "a Single-Party Communist Democracy in which all political power belongs to the People". Theoretically the government of Erusia was democratically elected in free, fair and open elections and all political decisions were subject to the scrutiny of the general citizenry.
In practice, the role of the State in Erusian politics was exceptionally minor. The Erusian National Communist Party was the only legal political party in all Erusia and all political power was concentrated in it. The Communist Party thus served as the real governing force in the nation, made all decisions and pre-approved all candidates in any election. Trade Unions and independent political organisations were permitted on the condition they agreed to follow the Communist Party and adhere to the Party Line, and even then any candidates they forwarded for elections were required to be approved by the Communist Party before they were allowed to stand. For much of the year, the power of the ruling Party was exercised by its elected Central Committee, with the collective membership of the ENCP determining the framework of future government policy at each National Congress.
Unlike many micronational states, where political power is often concentrated in one or two leaders, power and responsibility was divided between the leading members of the Communist Party who generally worked together to provide collective rather than individual leadership. Legislative and Executive power was firmly separated to ensure the two branches of the national government did not become blurred, though both were subordinate to the supreme authority of the ENCP. The head of state was known as the Supreme People's Commissioner of the National People's Executive Committee, with the last office holder being Robert Lethler, whilst the last Head of Government was Kai Roosevelt in her capacity as Premier of the National people's Assembly.
Intermicronational relations
Erusia was one of the most prominent and feared members of the MicroWiki Community and a founding, as well as a leading, member state of the Grand Unified Micronational. Erusia foreign policy had a monumental impact on its community, with Robert Lethler serving as the 2nd Chair of the Grand Unified Micronational and more recently the 2nd Chairman of the Preisidum of its Supreme Tribune. Erusia had strong bilateral ties with a number of micronations and was widely regarded as the leading socialist republic in the community, as well as one of the leading communist states in the MicroWorld. Unlike many micronational single-party communist states that collapse due to inactivity, Erusia "prospered".
Military
Republican Guard
The Republican Guard was the national security agency and intelligence service of the DPRE and a spiritual descendant of Bzanite Special Directorate. The Republican Guard was both admired and feared within the MicroWiki Community and has earned a reputation for its professionalism and the effectiveness of its operations, which were generally carried out by Lethler.
It was charged officially with protecting the interests of the Erusian government, combating enemies abroad and keeping "revolutionary order" in the Democratic People's Republic.
Subdivisions
Erusia was a semi-Federative Republic, with its territory being divided up into four semi-autonomous Administrative Districts. These Districts were headed by an Administrative Authority with their own regional head of state, an "Administrator", whilst they also had their own legislative bodies known a Congress of People's Deputies. All four regions had their own semi-autonomous branch of the ruling Communist Party headed by a Party Secretary. The four districts were the Erus Special Municipal Administrative District, the Bzan Special Administrative District, Sacria Administrative District and Sanctia Administrative District
Erus City
The Erus Special Municipal Administrative District, more commonly known simply as Erus City was the administrative center and capital of Erusia. It was used as the "home base" for the Central People's Government, and therefore the heart of the Erusia National Communist Party, with the vast majority of senior Erusian communist politicians holding office in the local government here.
History
Erus City was the first "province" to be established when Erusia was founded, originally intended to be a seat of power for the short-lived Monarchy. During the First Red Reformation the Erusian National Communist Party transformed the District into the seat of the Central People's Government, creating a capital for the Democratic People's Republic. On June 4, 2009, it was announced that a Communist Party official and citizen of Erus City had passed away suddenly, making Erus City the first region unfortunate enough to witness the "death of a citizen".
Government
Erus City was under de facto control of the ruling Communist Party. As was the case at all levels of Erusian government, the work of local legislative and administrative organs was carefully regulated by the Communist Party, who met shortly before each National Congress for a Local Party Congress.
Administrative Sectors
Erus City was officially divided into three Administrative Sectors: Erus City-1, Erus City-2 and Erus City-3. Despite this, the small size of the Erusian population meant that they were only used for electoral purposes, with each seat being afforded one of the District's three seats in the National People's Assembly.
Economy
The economy of the Democratic People's Republic was a socialist command economy based on the principles of common ownership of the means of production (collectivisation) and the centralised planning of all economic development, with the specific objective of all economic development being an increase in the standard of living for the lowest classes and an end to exploitation of workers and minorities. Unlike some socialist economies, the Erusian economic model was not opposed to private ownership of local business and had laws to protect the interests of what it considered to be "small, local community enterprises that serve chiefly to benefit the local People rather than entrepreneurs". It considered small enterprises such as corner shops, small specialist stores (hardware, gardening etc.) and similar businesses to be compatible with the Socialist ideology. The larger a business becomes, however, the tighter the regulations placed on it became - if any enterprise has multiple venues or any individual multiple business, they suddenly fell under much tighter regulatory measures.
Central planning in Erusian was based on the Rennie-Gaffneyist doctrine of a People's Economy and called for progressive centralisation rather than instantaneous and forceful centralisation. The Erusian economy was based on the assumption that land is not a commodity but owned by the People as a collective political unit, who in turn entrust its management to the state. As such, it was not possible to buy or sell land in Erusian because land is the property of the state - instead, individuals must apply to the government if they require land for any specific purpose. In this way the government believed it could better control agriculture and industry without having to nationalise or collectivise every farm and factory in a short period of time. All large businesses were required to operate as workers' cooperatives based on the ideas of democratic centralism - large enterprises, both state owned and private, must have a committee to lead them who are elected by regional committees from each branch, who were in turn elected by the workers at that regional branch.
The Communist Party was exceptionally careful to ensure Erusia's economic autonomy and to minimise its involvement with the global Capitalist system. It maintained the view that it is possible to develop a sustainable, effective socialist economy with minimal involvement from foreign Capitalist powers and cites Cuba and the Soviet Union as examples of "Socialist financial and economic orthodoxy", blaming the historical economic problems in both nations on the capitalist world.
Erusia in popular culture
Following the collapse of Erusia on 30 July 2010, it was discovered that every single member of the Erusian political class was in fact a persona of Robert Lethler or his colleagues Kai Roosevelt and Kenneth Maisano, who admitted later on an interview that the whole Democratic People's Republic was in fact an experiment.
As soon as the DPRE collapsed, many of its past actions and uses, such as long Government speeches or the supposed lack of freedom of press, have been portrayed in numerous jokes and parodies by several micronationalists of the MicroWiki Community who reacted negatively to the "Lethler experiment". In St.Charlie and Landashir, a parody of the Erusian media was created, called the Erusian News Network. The TV channel, which broadcasted live shows during August 2010, generally portrayed the DPRE as a Stalinist dictatorship with a strong political control of the GUM, where Lethler is worshipped and everyone tries to prove they're not his sockpuppets. From the day it was created, the parody received positive reviews. Another similar parody was the "Uncle Bob Lethler Show", an SBC created show from Sirocco.
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 | This article is part of a series on communist micronations. * Communist micronationalists * Micronations with communist regimes |