History of Australia
From eRepublik Official Wiki
The History of Australia was, for much of the beginning of the New World, synonymous with the Indonesia-Australia War. With the beginning of eRepublik, Australia, having a small population compared to the superpowers, had little activity or diplomatic leverage. With the increasing power of Indonesia, Australia was soon taken over and deleted from the map. In December of 2008, with the allowance of resistance wars, Australia was peacefully regained by her expatriates and his since become an organized and active nation. Following incremental agreements with Indonesia, six of the seven regions of Australia, excluding Western Australia, have been regained peacefully.
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Humble Beginnings
Australia was created along with beginning of eRepublik. As a minor nation, she had only a few citizens. The first presidential election was won by Zaney, the patriot who would later lead Australia through the war and back to independence. With only a 60 or so citizens, Australia had little need for any organizational government and so not much had ever happened there.
Zaney served one term as president under the Republican Party for Growth. Neo26988 won the next two elections under the Australian Commonwealth Party. Efforts to increase activity and population were insubstantial and had little effect. The third president of Australia, who also created The Unity Party was franktisk pappi. In April, Neo won the fifth Australia election, serving his third term.
During Neo's third term, tensions with Australia's only neighbor Indonesia grew. An apparently inappropriate letter written by Neo26988 to the Indonesian president isnuwardana sealed Australia's fate. When the war module was implemented, he declared war on Australia with only one congressman voting not to go to war.
Indonesia-Australia War
The superpower of eastern Asia, Indonesia, could now begin expanding its borders. At roughly 2000 citizens, the island nation would easily be able to conquer Australia, an option they decided to act on to keep from having to confront Pakistan, also a highly populated nation.
The war began on April 14, 2008 with congress declaring war on Australia. Zaney took control from there, sending the country's accounts of gold and AUD to the newly created National Bank of Australia. The capture of each region went quickly because of the immense population difference. The United Kingdom, a member of ATLANTIS, joined the war to fight against Indonesia, a PEACE member. However, a glitch in the moving module only allowed a few UK soldiers to join the battle.
On April 15, the regions of Queensland, Northern Territory, and Western Australia. The next day, South Australia was taken with New South Wales and Victoria nearing the breaking point. The next day, New South Wales and Victoria fell. The war ended with capture of Tasmania on April 18.
Post-War and the Government in Exile
Following the war, Zaney and a few other exiles - Cheeseball, corny-ratbag, and MachineMadness - fled to Belfast, United Kingdom. There, along with about 60 Australians, they set up a Government in Exile. They were joined later by some future Australian politicians like Scott Mitchell and Tim09.
The government's main purpose was to train their DropBears special ops force in current wars. They had planned to build up their strength and fight back against Indonesia. They also set up a cabinet of ministers that would organize their military force and hold diplomatic talks with Indonesia.
Training continued as talks with the Indonesian government were stalled. The government in exile submitted pleas to the Admin, trying to find a diplomatic means of putting Australia back on the map. V1 was released in October 2008, which would allow the exiles to try for a resistance war against Indonesia. A problem in communications based off of timezone issues cause the war to be started a day early. The odds were against the Australian, and the resistance was quelled.
Movement for Independence
While the resistance was a failure, it did bring Australia back on to front page news. Discussions with Indonesia began again, this time a little more seriously. Through November and early December, representatives from both nations debated the possible independence of Australia.
The raw materials brought on by V1 also affected the agreement. Western Australia became the most valuable region in the game, having high amounts of grain and diamonds, along with a medium supply of wood, oil, and iron. New South Wales was a priority as it was the most populated region, and it had the psychological benefit of being the nation's capital.
Following those discussions, Indonesia and Australia signed the Agreement for the Independence of Australia. This monumental treaty gave the regions of New South Wales and Victoria to the expatriates, provided that they would buy out all Indonesian owned companies in the regions. It also had provisions against Australia's military and foreign relations.
A New Beginning
Now that Australia had two regions to call their own, hundreds of Australians rushed to become a part of the revolution. The first orders of business were to recreate a political atmosphere. Cottus Arci, a former Australian who moved to Canada after the invasion, created the center-left Aus Democratic Socialist Party. Calibur, who had been a New York politician, created the center-right Australian National Party with help from Gercon Bonn to rival the socialists. The two parties gained active support instantaneously, each striving for control over the Senate in Australia's first election, which took place on December 25, 2009. The ANP gained the majority, while the ADSP and Advance Australia Alliance gained seven and five seats, respectively, out of 20 total.
From this election onward, conflict between socialism and capitalism would rule the political arena. Calibur and Cottus Arci each ran for president in January 2009. Cottus Arci won the election 62 votes to Calibur's 35, becoming Australia's first Prime Minister since the invasion. He served two consecutive terms as Prime Minister, winning against calibur both times.
Cottus Arci also oversaw the inception of Australia's third region, Northern Territory, which was again diplomatically sought from Indonesia per the guidelines of their agreement. This region also produced high quantities of diamonds, which would later allow the socialist government to manufacture gifts.
Political Rivalries
The big three would dominate Australian politics, followed closely by the Australian Independents create by Xavier Griffith. The Australian Communist Party would be in the top five, representing the far left. Other parties in Australia include the minority leader Liberal Party of Australia, created by Mr. Awesome as a means of compromising in the socialist-capitalist feud. Others are the More Beer Party and Australian Labor Party. There was also the short lived Australian Royalist Party.
The Prime Minister's office and Senate majority have steadily gone to the ADSP with the ANP, TBP and AIP fighting for runner-up spots.
Politics and Expansion
Calibur ran against the ADSP in the next two Prime Minister elections, losing to Derek Apollyon in March. The ADSP continued to grow as the dominant party in Australia, having a well lead majority in memberships and in the Senate. Derek's term in office brought Queensland back into Australian hands with the signing of the Australian - Indonesian Region Return Agreement, which would also go one to bring back the next two regions. Its natural resources only consist of grain, but it is still Australia's third most populated region.
April buffered in the creation of corny-ratbag's centrist True Blue Party, named in relation to his company as a party that stressed the importance of business in Australia. The next election was Australia's largest and closest at the time, a match between patti11 of the ADSP and corny-ratbag, supported also by the ANP. Patti11 won by only six votes out of a total 342, and would also win the next election against the TBP's Ben P. Even with two terms, patti11 was the first Prime Minister to not gain back a region.
The June 2009 election would become Australia's closest ever. The ADSP's Tim09, who joined after the war and was a member of the government in exile, faced off against the creator of the Australian Independents, Xavier Griffith. The election tallied 431 votes with Tim09 winning by only three. By this time, Australia had been involved in wargames with many PEACE members, not including Indonesia. Tasmania Australia's least populated region, was considered as a permanent wargame zone with Indonesia, but instead, Australia decided to regain the region fully on June 12.
The July election was also close, facing the Aussie Vegeta of the ADSP against Xavier Griffith for a second time. Only 417 votes were cast, and Aussie Vegeta won by a margin of 36. Aussie Vegeta's term saw the independence of Australia's second to last region, South Australia. Not very rich in natural resources, it still brought the nation one step closer to complete independence.
The current Prime Minister, Ranger Bob, has signed the Sol Alliance, allowing Australia to participate in wargames with other South-Pacific countries. He has also opened up the role of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, making it easier for diplomats, ministers and Presidents to have open relations with Australia.
The final region to be regained would be Western Australia. Still under Indonesian control, it is the most resource rich region in the game. Agreements still require the National Bank of Australia to buy out all Indonesian owned companies in the region, so financial concerns are keeping the resistance war on hold.
