Acadia

Acadia, officially the Federal Republic of Acadia, (or in Simplified Tahar: Dorei'Nothlir o Akkadye) is a nation in CivClassics. It is a federal parliamentary constitutional republic situated within the Northeast (+,-).

It was founded prior to the launch of CivUniverse, roughly in Early October/Late September 2020. In CivU, Acadia became known as a newfriend nation, and as such was one of the largest nations on the server. It prides itself on its democracy, freedom, and emphasis on building. Acadia is a middle power in the +,- region, and is one of the founding members of the Plus-Minus Concordat, which was the brainchild of the Minister of Foreign Affairs at the time, Swabbie. The nation possesses the capability to produce XP and small scale prot-production but lacks much power on the world stage. Acadia has been mired in regional controversy since near the beginning of its life on CivClassics. However, this has not stopped Acadia from being known as a regional hub for culture and economics, and is well known for its friendly, diverse community and welcoming attitude. The nation moved to CivClassics in March 2021.

CivUniverse
Acadia was one of the first nations founded on CivUniverse. Undeterred by the risk of shitters and toxicity, Cortwade, the first Prime Minister of Acadia, sought to make a new group on the newly-born server. Initially, things went well. Acadia was a small, isolated nation, a vassal state to Javaya, and was a founding member of a large regional UN-like organization. Eventually, Acadia ballooned to be one of the largest nations on the server, with a booming alcohol and potato industry, the latter of which was unrivaled by any in the world.

During Acadia's popularity height, however, the country faced many problems on it's continent, known as Hyperborea, thanks to countries like Amythria, who's queen, Nina, declared herself the Queen of, leading to much tension between the two, as well as the uprising of Tempestia, which was quickly squashed, before being aided to settle elsewhere. That, ontop of the occasional raids that were swiftly handled, the state was faced with many newfriend problems that were slowly solved thanks in large part to some of it's founding members and it's mother country, Javaya,

Early Acadia faced many internal issues, namely a huge divide thanks to political parties and political violence, one of the most notable cases being Layman, a founding member, aggressively attacking their opposition to the Snow Party at every turn, even going so far to launch an immense legal case against one of the members of an opposing party that still held credence as a precedence for many Acadian cases thereafter. That, ontop of failed attempts by some members to create roleplay events, constant situations with opposing countries, left a few of the founders, namely Cortwade, extremely burnout. However, due to a rise in toxicity in groups such as New Vegas and Cincinnati, and the outbreak of the Coalition War, Acadia's population quickly dwindled, and burnouts became more severe. Numbering around 30-strong at its peak, Acadia only had roughly 10-15 active citizens when the decision to move was made.

CivUniverse Specifics
While the now removed-article that originally held Acadia's page has been now deleted, specific historical events should be noted and remaining on the Acadian page:

Launch
Acadia settled quickly after launch, quickly finding the continent of Hyperborea and settling the capital city of Turing. On Day 1, a Javayan, JustSharky, and one of their colleagues, joined Cortwade and began building Turing. Before the day was out, Turing featured the start of its potato farm, a public works and factory building (now the East Turing Storage), and a mine. However, progress after this point would become slow and laborious. Over the next month, Turing gained several small houses, and the town of Serena was founded as an outpost. Work began on Acadia Grand Central Station, but work quickly came to a crawl as a lack of activity brought most of Acadian life to a standstill. However, with a new recruitment initiative, several new members of Acadia joined over a week-long period, bringing new energy and life into Acadia. The potato farm was quickly expanded as it became properly managed, the central station was completed, and new buildings began popping up both in Turing and Serena.

First Newfriend Influx
With a new CivUniverse recruitment initiative, many newfriends opted to join Acadia due to its status as a calm, chill, and friendly nation. Notable members such as Stevee and Schmilly joined at this point. Turing and Serena both boomed, to a point where both towns were almost unrecognizable after just a week of development. Quickly, structures such as the Aston Tower and Supreme Tribunal were built, and Serena developed into a proper town in its own right. Acadia became an active and thriving nation as individuals joined the nation. Shortly after the influx, the first elections were held on schedule with Cortwade winning a second term. The introduction of partisan politics also began during this point. The development of an intra-Acadian rail was a paramount issue during the election, with many Solidarity candidates campaigning for an overground rail, and claims that the Progressive-Snow candidates were dragging their feet on the issue. Progressive-Snow candidates in turn were campaigning for the construction of an underground rail. In fact, as the election was ongoing, Interim Minister of Homeland Affairs Bloof completed the Serena-Turing rail.

Second Newfriend Influx and Activity Slump
As thing settled into normalcy, many newfriends recruited during the First Newfriend Influx became inactive or otherwise busy with real-life affairs. Several members moved to other nations. With another CivUniverse recruitment initiative, Acadia experienced a small influx in newfriends, but it was barely comparable to the First Influx and did little to dent the national slump in activity. Despite this, progress was still made. Factories were moved away from the exposed public works and into a more secure location, the acquisition of Laconia was approved, and the Lionsgate Stadium began construction. Eventually, the slump reached a stable point. Acadia became a moderately active nation, but still less active than the high point of the First Newfriend Influx.

Participation in the First Coalition War
As a Dominion of Javaya, Acadia was an active participant in the First Coalition War against the City of Gotham/New Vegas. While few Acadians were frontline fighters, Acadia actively supported the production of wartime materials through a War Bond exchange system. However, industrial output was sluggish as a result of the decline in activity, and, despite their bravery, Acadia could not properly supply its fighters, leading to heavy casualties on the battlefield. With the Status Quo peace of the First Coalition War on 10, March 2021, Acadia has established Remembrance Day as a national holiday.

Move to CivClassics
Cortwade decided to establish claims on March 10th, 2021 for the Republic of Acadia. However, the vote to transfer the country from CivUniverse to CivClassic wasn't held until April 3rd to 4th, 2021, and passed. The Great Migration of Acadia took place on April 24th, 2021, and consisted of VCs and general merriment. Appointed to assist with the movement for the migration was Juniortide.

Early Classics History
With the founding of New Turing, the capital was formed. Unlike on CivUniverse, Acadia decided to have internal states, and moved away from one settlement states. The State of Babbage was formed shortly after the Capital Territory, with the city of Lovelace, founded by Owain X. The first expansion of Acadia took place when Pandastical claimed part of the Lewis Archipelago for his personal use, and chose to merge it into Acadia. Further settlements were made over time, including Kanava- a notable port city on the east coast of Acadia.

Development Period
Slowly, Acadia began developing itself. This was, and continues to be a struggle due to low activity. However, New Turing, Acadia's Capital, now boasts a public works which is slowly filling with basic factories. A couple of determined citizens have taken the initiative upon themselves, and private XP production has begun on a small scale. The various settlements are slowly taking form, with New Turing in particular building its first permanent homes and shops.

Notable citizens during this period:

While the slow process of building was made, an incident occurred that led to the arrest and pearling of one of Acadia's original citizens, Layman, who, while giving supplies to the group, murdered Owain. After many issues with the Acadian government in the past (especially political issues and debt difficulties in Universe), Layman finally was exiled from the state after this final treasonous act, and has left Civ for the time being.
 * LightningBerk
 * Cortwade
 * ScammerSteve
 * SpacemanSpleef
 * JuniorTide
 * CrackerVolley
 * Egi

Instability and Conflicts
While Acadia continued it's slow development, many issues became apparent as the transition from Universe and Acadia began showing some of the rough edges it had left on the newly-formed state. The first instance of this was the developing situation with the Lewis Isles and their primary owner and only occupant, Mat/Pandastical. Already a controversial figure in Acadia due to tensions back in Universe, Pandastical had elected to join Acadia within Classics. However, he quickly decided on seceding after numerous political disagreements with Acadia. One such argument was over a land dispute that Pandastical claimed he had claimed during the secession, but upon further investigation, hadn't even bothered posting a picture of said succession. The claim was soon dropped, but this incident would only boil over to further instances, eventually leading to the 40 Minute War. This conflict was a short-lived conflict thanks to a misunderstanding, but would leave the Acadian government suspicious and fearful of yet another occurrence like this. Tensions eventually rose again and culminated in the Acadian Island War, in which the Acadian government initiated an attack on the Lewis Islands as a preventative measure against future conflict.

After the occupation forces had arrived and beaten back Mat, the Lewis Isles were officially incorporated into the Republic of Acadia. Mat was sentenced to a light pearling before being exiled from the territories, eventually creating Aussieland, another OMN (One Man Nation). Mat then opted to join the Kingdom of Mythril as a Duke.

Furthermore, many internal issues becoming apparent during this period. One example of this was the attempt of impeachment of Prime Minister Cortwade over Senatorial voting rights of the Prime Minister. The vote failed, but resulted in a near impeachment before a bill was finally passed to allow for the PM to vote. Another one of the major problems was pre-exisiting citizenship in other countries. For example, Icenia. Furthermore, there was the question of the transfer of dual-citizenships of other states that, like Acadia, were transferring over to Classics, such as Kingdom of Fish. While many instances made it so it was beneficial for these dual citizenships to exist (especially in the case of Juniortide, an Icenian and Acadian citizen), there would come the problem of one Druid and JayTeeR, two Fish/Acadian citizens that would quickly become two of the most infamous characters in Acadian history.

After a failed attempt at gaining power in the form of Minister of Defense, and taking personal many critiques and insults towards their vault at Fish, Jay and Druid decided the best course of action was to alt-raid both Acadia and Fish under the monikers of indonesianbeans and GalacticBroom65, causing much destruction while utilizing the military and snitch channels to attack and in one instance pearl Acadian citizens.

While the pair went off in their continous raids, Acadia was now left in a much weaker state, and was then susceptible to further raiding. Further raids were egged on by a newly joined RainofPain, who was collecting members for his own state, the No-State Commune. He primarily targeted Acadia due to past grudges with Cortwade and JuniorTide. This eventually culminated in a pre-emptive strike against the No-State Commune (but effectively Rainie's), bunker by Acadian forces and disabling it to prevent further use.

Eventually the raids subsided, but as Raine was logboxed by opponents like Okx and TTastic, he opted to dox a member of Acadia, which resulted in a ban from Classics. While the ban is supposed to be temporary, Raine does not seem to intend on coming back considering his predicament with the logbox and the fact that everyone, including members of Raine's former state, despise him.

This, however, lead to one of the largest political scandals in Acadian history when it was revealed the Zombie_Striker and FE_Flags, founders of the Worker's of Acadia Party (WAP), had made a deal with Rainie by giving Rainie diamonds in return for newfriends for the party. Flags had previously left Acadia and had made the Eon Empire (and with him, taking Tsar Ivan, a polar bear senator), but Striker had elected on staying. However, upon the revelation that Rainie had doxxed Owain, had left Acadia and Civ in general, but not before it was discovered that numerous factories, including a diamond tool factory, had been broken under suspicious circumstances, Striker decided to leave Civ and Acadia due to the blame put upon them for their role in the TNSC-incident.

Slow Stabilization
Suddenly, after weeks of constant warfare with raiders, the threats grew less and less numerous until Acadia could finally begin collecting wealth again. The military began immediately re-arming every active body, with the motto that "every body gets prot", a mission that was deemed successful after every active military personnel gained a set of prot, in no small thanks to Juniortide and Egi's efforts. Then, every active member of Acadia were given spare pieces of armor, junk prot or diamond, and are now actively working to get prot for every Acadian possible.

These efforts, while respectable, were not dealing with the primary issue with Acadia's activity issues, one that was made more severe by the recent raiding. With a new election looming, Bloof finally met competition from the Visionary Party of Acadia when Kannon, an on-and-off active figure within Acadia, decided on running for Prime Minister under the platform of entertainment to help boost Acadian activity, while Bloof maintained their policies of diplomatic ventures to aid Acadia. While Kannon only gained barely half of Bloof's votes, this election cycle did see a large boost of activity, in no small part thanks to the efforts of many citizens mentioned before, as well victorious efforts in certain diplomatic efforts.



The August Election
After the chaos of the June-July development period, Acadia finally reached a stable point in which a new era had begun. Firstly was the election, with a set of ministers generally being regarded as competent being elected to their posts and immediately getting to work. Despite some friction in the National Assembly (mainly caused by Kannon in his attempts to add more roleplay to the nation), the government started the August Election Cycle without a hitch, working diligently for Acadia. Secondly was a new wave of newfriends joining in Acadia, only helping the now newly active members of the nation to continue their drive forward into activity. Thirdly, and most notably, was the August Administration's diplomatic successes. Chief among them was the formation of the Plus-Minus Compact, an alliance system with Acadia, Fish, Mythril, the Free City of England, and the Ch1pr Empire all signing, and to which the news of the addition of Acadia as an associate member of the United Defense Front was made. During this time, many of the aforementioned newfriends settled into Acadia to become notable parts of the nation. However, toward the end of the August Term, activity from old members dipped sharply as many return to school and university.

Partisan Wave
On September 4th, 2021, Acadia began its monthly election cycle. Headed by the new High Commissar, Cortwade, the election was one of the most contested yet despite the activity slump. With 19 respondents hailing across 4 active parties, the Minister of Foreign Affairs election became extraordinarily close, being the first election to be forced to go into Phase 2 of Instant-Runoff voting. In the end, a diverse senate was assembled with the NAP controlling, but not having a majority. The NVDP and APP also secured seats, however the APP has seen a decline since its near to total control of the senate during the Cortwade Administration.

Organizations
Many notable organizations have been created in Acadia, all of which related to monetary value in some way. The most notable of these are:

ANN (Acadian News Network), The Lovelace Company (TLC), Acadian National Arena, VestilgeRail
All administrated by Owain_X, the TLC is essentially one of the few organizations that runs a state in Acadia (Babbage), holds power outside of Acadia (TLC is essentially in total control of Vestilge, a OMN), and one of the largest considering many of it's subsidiaries and sister companies. TLC controls essentially all business in Babbage, and does own a shop in New Turing, but mainly operates in Vestilge. VestilgeRail is a rail company (obviously), while the TLC is more retail, but the ANN is among the most notable of the subsidiaries because of it's unique venture into media entertainment where new broadcasts updating the world on recent events are made. Acadian National Arena, a new addition to the ever-growing list, is the new center for entertainment and pvp-ing in Acadia, and is well-expected to garnish much support and participants.

Current ANN News to date:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbHQTyDE7vw (6/5/21)

https://youtu.be/kqwtHhx_a7A (6/12/21) (reddit link: https://old.reddit.com/r/civclassics/comments/nyjfik/acadia_news_network_ann_june_12_2021/?)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JryP6i0hek4 (6/20/21) (reddit link: https://old.reddit.com/r/civclassics/comments/o40xo7/acadia_news_network_ann_june_20_2021/)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBaHmNTc6tI (6/28/21) (reddit link: https://old.reddit.com/r/civclassics/comments/o9rwq5/acadia_news_network_ann_june_28_2021/?)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0BjcqFbNcAg (7/15/21) (reddit link: https://old.reddit.com/r/civclassics/comments/ol7r5k/acadia_news_network_ann_july_15_2021/?)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VT58aquJY2o (7/20/21) (reddit link: https://old.reddit.com/r/civclassics/comments/ooh8gp/ann_special_report_the_fishnipple_crisis_july_20/?)

Steve Corp
Aliken to TLC, Steve Corp is also responsible for the running of an Acadian state, namely Kanava, and is responsible for the many businesses found in that territory. It builds and maintains the infrastructure, as well as an enchant shop that's grown ever-popular in Acadia.

Structure
Acadia is officially a federal parliamentary constitutional republic, with considerable powers being afforded to the executive branch. It is guided by the Constitution of Acadia. Acadia's head of state and government is the Prime Minister, who is elected on a 2-month term. The Prime Minister is in charge of most executive duties, including but not limited to, chief diplomat, owner of the discord, and executor of passed laws. The Prime Minister presides over the Senate, a legislative upper body composed of the Prime Minister, all other Ministers, and a representative from each state.. The Senate may pass laws without the consent of the lower house, the National Assembly, but these laws may be overturned. Ministers are the head of Ministries, which are specialized government organs established by the National Assembly. The National Assembly is composed of all willing citizens, and can pass laws, impeach elected officials, and amend the Constitution of Acadia. The National Assembly may appoint a Chief Justice to deal with any Judicial cases, be they civil or criminal, or instead call upon a Joint Session of Parliament in what's known as a Supreme Tribunal. The Assembly also elects what is known as a High Commissar to guard the namelayers and manage the political affairs of the Assembly, including calling, tabulating, and initiating votes, moderating discussion, and keeping an up-to-date list of active laws. This position is elected for 6 months and is subject to a monthly confirmation vote.

Elections
Acadia holds elections once every two months, in accordance to the Constitution of Acadia. Several political parties have formed and run candidates.

Ashahara People's Party/Ashahara i'Dorei Farroth (APP)
The APP is a center-left party that prioritizes individual rights and freedoms. It aims to allow prosperity and peace in accordance to Ashaharist values. However, it is a secular party and also advocates for the freedom of religion for all Acadians. It wishes to institute strong individual protections in order to ensure the freedoms and rights of Acadians are protected from those that would wish to take them away. While it supports capitalism, it wishes to regulate it in order to prevent the exploitation of workers and natural resources. To date, all Prime Ministers of Acadia have been part of the APP or its predecessor, the Progressive-Snow party.

National Visionary and Defense Party/i'Nothlir Tira a' Nidh Farroth (NVDP)
Formed on August 16, 2021 after the VPA merged into the NDP to create a stronger opposition party to try and gain power in the government.

Liberty of Acadia Party/u'Nosson o Akaddye Farroth (LAP)
The LAP is a small party with the goals of increasing the citizen's liberties, getting rid of the oppressive centralized state, and dismantling the current registration system for political parties. It is based upon some Georgist principles, such as deregulation of the economy to provide free markets and trade, and allowing anybody to productively use land for free. It was created after two Acadians shared dismay at the party system, and wanted to bring change. Two of the three founding members were founders of the Libertarian party from CivUniverse, and these two parties have some similar views.

New Ashahari Party/Gwain Ashahari Farroth (NAP)
The NAP was borne from a schism in the APP after the Adina Affair made some APP members want to focus more on Acadia and national unity. The NAP is a left-wing party that believes strongly in a system of collective storage, citizens' rights, and providing for the basic necessities of all. It carries a strong belief in national unity, though it celebrates diversity of thought and opinion. The NAP has some nationalist rhetoric attached to it, however it believes strongly in working with current Acadian alliance partners and seeking out new ones. The NAP believes the government is a tool to be used for the betterment of the people, and as such believes a strong centralized government is key to national success.

Worker's of Acadia Party/i'Cuin'Dorei o Akkadye Farroth (WAP)
The WAP is one of the newest parties in Acadia. Founded originally as a joke, the party quickly morphed into a serious opposition bloc. Though its values aren't radical, it is certainly the farthest party from the center in Acadia. It values collectivism and freedom, and wishes to prevent the ruling class from oppressing the common person. It seeks to reform the nation to allow for collectivist practices, and has signaled that it would attempt to abolish private property, something that would require a constitutional amendment. In the July elections, it secured 3 out of 6 seats, nearly reaching a majority.

Following several controversies involving the WAP throughout July and August 2021, most of the members either stepped down, exiled themselves, or were declared permanently Personae Non-Gratae. Leaving only Swabbie as the last member of the party as of August 13th, 2021. It was dissolved after Swabbie joined the newly formed NAP on August 25th, 2021.

Visionary Party of Acadia/Tira Farroth o Akkadye (VPA)
The VPA had ideals based on "transhumanist" and "futurist" teachings, the VPA was the closest Acadia had to a technocratic party. It seeks to further Acadian industrial power, boosting the economy. It seeks to trade with foreign nations, and allow Acadians to augment themselves with the best equipment avaliable. While having failed to gain senate seats in the past, it is now a much more notable party, thanks to select member's efforts to revitalize the party, and in the last election nearly gained many seats in the federal council, and has gained seats in the senate as the second largest party now in control. Merged into NDP, forming the NVDP.

National Defense Party/i'Nothlir Nidh Farroth (NDP)
The National Defense Party was one of the oldest parties. The only true right-wing party, the NDP had been a staunch supporter of expanding Acadia's military power and becoming more well-known on the international stage. It has signaled support for joining the large alliance blocs prior, but has yet to be elected to any federal positions. The NDP believes that capitalism is a waste, and that only state corporations should be chartered to manufacture goods. It has been known to issue staunch militarist rhetoric, and was one of the fiercest supporters of the intervention in the Lewis Islands. Had VPA merge into, forming the NVDP.

Acadian Trade and Prosperity Party (ATPP)
The second party to be formed on CivClassics, the ATPP was a short-lived center-right party. It believed in minimal governmental interference in day-to-day life, and staunchly supported businesses in Acadia. However, it faded before it could establish many policy goals, due to a political suicide maneuver when an ATPP member started a vote to strip Babbage of statehood, causing the Senator of that state to defect to the ATPP. At the time of its dissolution, the ATPP was the only opposition party to have held a senate seat.

Progressive-Snow Party (P-S)
The Progressive-Snow Party was the direct predecessor of the APP. Formed Pre-migration on CivUniverse, It held mostly the exact same policy stances as the APP, and contained most of the same members. It was dissolved during the Great Migration.

Solidarity Party (S)
The Solidarity Party was a leftist party in CivUniverse. It held many of the same views as the WAP does today, though it was not so anticapitalist. It was dissolved due to a lack of members and interest.

Libertarian Party (L)
The Libertarian Party, or GRILL, was a center-right party on CivUniverse. It held many of the same policy views as the ATPP did, however it never reached federal power. It was dissolved during the Great Migration.

Election Results:
Incumbent Italicized, winner Underlined

New Turing
The oldest and largest city in Acadia, New Turing is situated on the island within Lake Elizabeth, with the Public Works, many residences, and the beginnings of several businesses. It is a planned city, with zoning and build codes in effect. It is led by Cortwade, who also owns Wade Winery, situated in New Turing. Notable places include Perseverence Square, Riverfront Street, and the soon-to-be-built Capitol Building.

The Lewis Islands
A controversial state, the Lewis Islands is the newest state in Acadia and holds most of the island territory in the Lewis Archipelago. It has the largest population of any state, and is rapidly developing in multiple small townships. It was born out of a federal occupation district after the annexation of the Kingdom of the Lewis Islands after its status as a rogue state.

Nordvest
One of the many territories in Acadia, Nordvest is slightly populated by a few individuals in the town of the same name, known mostly for their mining and work ethic, and has a few striking landmarks, namely their sandstone towers.

Wilson
The Wilson Territories, with an even smaller population then Nordvest, is namely a project territory for a select group of individuals working on god-know's what there... Perhaps where the Acadian aliens are hidden?

Lovelace
Founded by Owain_X - Capital city of the state of Babbage. It houses many notable buildings, including the tallest in Acadia. It has many areas for sale or lease, and is actively searching for new citizens.

Lovelace Tunnel
The Lovelace Tunnel is dug through the hills between the Lake Elizabeth to River Lovelace. It has pathways and a canal the entire route, allowing for boats.

Kanava Town
Located on the far east coast, the defining measure of this developing city is instead of roads, it has canals. Its nearest settlement is in the Lewis Archipelago.

Kanava Tunnel
Built by ScammerSteve to connect the River Lovelace to the city of Kanava, it is a 2 wide water tunnel that goes under the Acadian countryside

Former Territories/Cities
With former cities on the now lost Universe, this section should be created to remember their loss.

Turing
The largest city in Hyperborea, Turing was the capital city of Acadia. Housing notable structures such as the National Bank, Supreme Tribunal, Acadia Grand Central Station, and Aston Tower, Turing claimed to be one of the most beautiful cities on the server. Its style has been described by the Minister of Public Relations and Human Resources as "Victorian Longhouses," due to the emphasis on brickwork rowhouses and few freestanding structures. Acadia Grand Central Station was the largest rail station in the southern hemisphere, and Aston Tower claimed to be the tallest inhabitable structure in Hyperborea. Turing was in the process of constructing the Lionsgate Stadium, a multipurpose entertainment complex to be primarily used for competitive PvP events, such as Gladiatorial Combat, Boat Jousting, and Spleef, among others. Turing, despite security measures, was sometimes prone to unorganized raiding. While these attacks typically did minimal damage, in part due to Hyperborea's position as a newfriend spawn zone, it has fostered a sense of paranoia in many active Turans as it was difficult to distinguish between friend and foe.

Serena
Serena was a small city located on the south coast of Acadia. It was populated by a close knit pattern of log cabins sitting in a massive snowy wood. This seclusive area is known as the "small town" end of Acadia and saw accelerating development. However, due to the increasing frequency of unorganized raiders, Serena saw a noticeable drop in activity. Despite this, several Serenans were still active in discord and ingame, and the town was still largely considered to be active. Serena was the birthplace of the now-defunct Solidarity party, with the Solidarity headquarters featuring prominently.