The Commonwealth (CivClassic 2.0)

The Commonwealth is a nation based in the southwest(-,+) - a conglomerate of city states comprised of members from many former Civcraft Nations. Peter5930 is the current King. Formerly a Western Alliance members, it is now a member of SATO. The Commonwealth provides free transportation throughout the server though Union Station in Westminster, and promotes trade in Shopside, the subterranean marketplace surrounding the station. Each of the city states, known colloquially as boroughs, retains local political and economic independence while referring federal matters of state to the King and Council. Leadership, architectural style, political ideology and economic specialization are unique to each borough. Boroughs include the mountaintop retreat of Strassburg, the corporate offices of Hexcorp, the Arran plantation,the man-made island of Taliesin, the desert metropolis of Meditat, Peter's End Citadel, and the capital city of Westminster, with its new upcoming city area, Victoria, memorializing the attacks on Westminster during the Somber War.

The Early Days
On 14 May 2017, Cowguypig made a post on the subreddit calling for all players to join the Commonwealth in CivEx 3.0, and the remnants of Concordia and the Commonwealth united once more under the old flag to rebuild the nation which had pioneered security tactics and dominated commerce in the days of old. The result was a smaller town than former iterations, which did not attain comparable political leverage or influence. CivEx 3.0 quickly died, and with the launch of CivClassic on June 2nd 2017, the Commonwealth swiftly migrated to the new server.

Cowguypig reigned as King in the first days, leaving development of the capital in the hands of then prime minister and former king, Sashimii. Plans for the road network and canals were drawn, and the rest would be left to the citizens to decide for themselves. Development was swift, but chaotic - players did what they wanted, took on the projects they wanted, reinforced on the groups they wanted, and top-down administration was nearly non-existent. From the wellspring of untamed construction was born the city of Westminster. Strassburg (created by fadedsoul) would spring up soon thereafter on a nearby mountain, becoming the first borough of the Commonwealth.

Westminster quickly became infamous for its extra security measures, including narrow winding streets gated regularly by iron doors, its canals, referred to before completion as trenches, and the first council's decision to stop people from making bridges across these trenches in favor of underground tunnels. Many regarded it as an urban maze, and many still do today, despite efforts to make it more traversable.

After a rocky start, Shopside opened to the public, and the city became a central rail hub for much of the Southwest. As more expansions for shops occurred in the area surrounding the station, more people made a stop in Westminster to trade.

Soon after the move, many different settlements appeared near the capital and became boroughs of the Commonwealth. One such settlement was Southshire, founded by Orinnari and StrPlatinum on 25 June 2017, roughly 800 blocks away on a peninsula in the south.

Meditat was settled by ZeeTip and mike0war on a desert far to the northwest of Westminster 5 July 2017 - a dense city surrounding a remote oasis in the Harakur desert, neighboured by a complex of various factories and xp farms. The desert city is home to a number of temples to a number of religions, as well as a new religion which emerged from the translation of recently discovered carvings by local scribes, on tablets of clay excavated from the ruins of an ancient structure, buried deep beneath the sand by the oasis.

On 6 July 2017, a rail line was connected to Hexcorp and became a borough soon thereafter.

Prelude to the Somber War
As the capital grew in size, so did raids in frequency; the city dwellers, largely untrained in combat, retreated to their homes at the sound of the armoured raiders' approach. Attacks on citizens were common and frequent, prompting Sintralin, queen of Lexington, to request occupation of the city by her armed forces to aid in their eradication.

Though the presence of Lexington troops had quelled raider activity in Westminster, their occupation, coupled with the lack of administration over land development, brought with it new problems: when restless Lexington soldiers with few targets to engage began harassing citizens in the streets, tensions between the nations began to arise. On 21 July 2017, six Lexington citizens alt-raided Commonwealth. It was the first major attack on the server, and was extremely devastating to the town. The altraids continued for many days thereafter. Short sentences were given to captured raiders.

On 13 August, sintralin pearled Bewsiej and handed his pearl to the Commonwealth as part of the aforementioned deal, but mistakes in coal allocation allowed him to be released early, on the 22nd of August, and he, along with was granted asylum in the Lexington bunker. This resulted in Commonwealth officials removing the bunker.

In late August, tensions rose in Westminster when ZeroRussia, CarrieUnderwear, and GeneralWindu raided ThePayman's and Ez2Crew's factory building. Arbitration was offered, but Payman and Ez2Crew eventually left the Commonwealth to join Lexington. Both parties have since become inactive.

At the September elections in Southshire, Saren_Solaris became an elected official in Southshire, and it eventually became one of the most active cities on the server. It became known for having more orderly canals than Westminster, and a stronger focus on building and aesthetics, eschewing the cumbersome security infrastructure found in the capital. However, during mid-September sintralin contacted the Chancellor of Southshire, StrPlatinum, to offer Southshire secession to Lexington. It was almost accepted, however, with brilliant negotiation from sashimii, a possible war was averted.

On 21 September 2017, Westminster was attacked by Bewsiej, XyngSnow and Posedion. Peter5930 was pearled but eventually got out at the cost of a beacon.

On 24 September 2017, the Battle of the Boeing 911 took place above the cityscape of Westminster. It was the only time the Boeing 911 was used for fighting purposes, along with Lexington alts fighting to take it.

On 26 September 2017, Brinton seized the throne from Cowguypig and took a more aggressive position on the upcoming war with Lexington.

On 27 September 2017, it was discovered that Saren_Solaris had been in communication with poortea in an attempt to cause Southshire's secession from the Commonwealth and start a war. Following this, Saren was promptly pearled by Westminster officials.

On 4 October 2017, Peter5930 discovers an illegal iron farm and reports it to the admins. Lexington repaid the iron but were compensated with 120 compacted stacks of obsidian.

On 8 October 2017, as tensions continued to grow, Sintralin messages StrPlatinum threatening to treat Southshire the same way as Westminster if they don't declare neutrality in the war.

The following day, sintralin and Lexington declare war on the Commonwealth, using the breaking of Lexington's bunker in Westminster as a casus belli.

During The Somber War
Less than a day after the declaration of war, Lexington used the obsidian given to them by the admins to enact a grand assault on Westminster by obby bombing much of the city. The city became near-dysfunctional, however, when admins found out, they removed most of the obsidian from the city, refunded their 120 stacks of obsidian as recompense and temporarily banned sintralin and ShoPork, who deliberately lied to the admins to gain an advantage. While the grief was being cleaned up, Lodish, a member of the council, was pearled.

Mere days after the attacks, Jdcorral was pearled in Lexington while peacefully shopping for books.

On 14 October, MrLlamma submits a post to /r/Civclassics, "Why I Insided My Friends."In the post, he states that he deliberately gave information to the Commonwealth to prevent the pearling of more innocents. Although it was a heroic act that helped many, he was pearled for it. The following day, Peter5930 was pearled by Badash, who was subsequently pearled ten days later. Peter, when he was not getting /ppkilled every 10 seconds, began building the foundations of what would become his impenetrable end castle which served as a haven for all pearled Western Alliance members.

On 9 November 2017, a new borough was founded - Nymph was built on an island to the far west by former Kraken founders Seekinq, SpankMeHarder, JayTeeR, _Monkee, and ItzJosh.

That same day, Lexington presented terms of surrender to the Commonwealth, which included unconditional surrender and permapearling of Peter. After deliberation with the Council, King Brinton declined; Lexington approached the council once more later that month with lighter terms, but Brinton once more declined.

After the terms of surrender were denied a third time, Lexington launched an attack on the end castle; during the the next two months, Peter's gate was charged three times to no avail. Soon, the Commonwealth ceased to be the main target of these attacks, as the tide had turned to Hjaltland (now Falstadt) whom by this time had pearled many prominent Lexington soldiers.

On Christmas Day, brinton resigned as King of the Commonwealth, handing the crown to Peter5930.

In late January, jdcorral and Lodish were released after building houses for Lexington officials.

Around the same time, Southshire decided to secede, leaving for Yoahtl. It was a very controversial decision, but they decided it was for the best to bring the city back to its former glory. In addition, Nymph decided to go independent on 8 February 2018, to avoid any further drama with the war, and build peacefully. Both cities continue to be close with the Commonwealth.

By March 2018, the war slowly declined, bringing about a new sense of spirit, and a desire to bring the Commonwealth back to its former glory. A new station was made after extensive planning that brought a massive overhaul to its current rail hub.

After failed peace talks, the war became a stalemate. Falstadt elected to make the first move and began a two-day offensive on Lexington's vault. After pearling five Lexington soldiers, the Western Alliance broke through the vault gate; Lexington evacuated the vault and left the pearls inside, and a day later, all pearled individuals were freed and the war was declared over.

Post-War
Following the war, activities resurged within the Commonwealth.

Upon returning, Peter declared derelict many inactive houses in Westminster, and promptly tore them to their foundations. A new section of the city, entitled Victoria, then began its planning stages. It was to replace the old city farms, and would represent a new start for Westminster, with stronger security measures, making it a proper, secure citadel, as well as a more extensive building code, balancing security and aesthetics like never before in the nation's history. Building of infrastructure is nearly complete, and the city has begun taking in residents, workers, shopkeepers, scribes and guards.

With more people arriving in the Commonwealth, its position as a central rail hub for much of the server makes it one of the most optimal locations in the world for trade. As a result, people increasingly set up shop within Shopside, including Yoahtl, Falstadt, Etherium, and many more. There are so many shops that at times, demand is exceeding supply.

Government
The Commonwealth is a Constitutional Monarchy. In its current iteration, there have been three kings:

The Council of consists of high ranking and prominent citizens of the Commonwealth that specialize in various activities, and advise the King on different matters. Each of the boroughs retains local administrative independence while referring international matters to the King and Council.

The Commonwealth espouses traditional liberal policies, guaranteeing economic freedom and self ownership for individuals and boroughs within its borders, while directing voluntary funding from across the nation for large cultural and agricultural projects, leaving local administrative action such as building regulations to each borough's discretion.

The Commonwealth prioritizes the following policies:
 * Free markets, to encourage the individual citizen's industriousness, and to decentralize power and authority
 * Internal security infrastructure in the capital city (walls, gated roads, moats, canals, maze-like city layouts, tunnels, etc.)
 * Free trade between boroughs, facilitated by a public interborough rail system and Shopside, the nation's most secure marketplace
 * Pro-immigration, providing a welcoming path for newcomers to become citizens through involvement in public projects and the acquisition of property

Transportation
Commonwealth has one of the densest rail networks on the server, served by its main hub in Westminster and other stations within the area.

Westminster - Union Station
One of the Commonwealth's main goals was to provide free trade and transportation throughout the world; to fulfill this goal, a large rail station would be built beneath the capital city. Surrounding the station is Shopside, the nation's premier marketplace. A recent expansion to the area in early 2018 has established Westminster as a main train station on the server.

The earliest rail lines connected the boroughs to the capital as they were founded. Westminster became a major hub when the HITS rail was beginning its construction in June 2017, connecting Westminster to other major cities in the Western Hemisphere, notably TdC, Mount Augusta, Impasse and Falstadt. Other notable connections at the time included SPQR and Southshire, who have a grand train station of their own.

Progress came to a halt at the start of the Somber War, but in early 2018 following its slow decline, a new station was built out of the existing infrastructure of the old station. The new station makes it more spacious than the previous iteration, and makes connections a little more efficient. New rail connections are also coming in due to the newly invigorated station, most notably the Great Overland Railway connecting Commonwealth to farther places afield such as Mount Augusta, Yoahtl, Vinland, and Okashima.

The Boroughs
Arran's growth as a rail hub was gradual, initially only achieving connections to Westminster and Southshire. As more boroughs were established west of the city, it became a local hub for the region. Notable connections from Arran include Nymph, Meditat, Plantation, and Southshire.

Hexcorp's integration into the Commonwealth was swift; due to its distance from the capital, rails were imperative in its joining Hexcorp connects Meditat and its local villages to the capital.