Gabon

Grand Mercantile Republic of Gabon
Flag of Gabon Gabonese Coat of Arms
Motto	"Justice, peace, prosperity"
Government and politics
Government	Mercantile Republic
• Founder & MotEC	GetSkinny
• Lord High Chancellor	BritishWanderer
Executive Council	Appointed as a meritocracy
Formation	By Letters Patent
Geography
Capital and largest city	Salisbury  -3000, -2300
Links
Website	balmoral.ga
Discord	discord.gg

The Grand Mercantile Republic of Gabon, commonly known as Gabon (/ɡəˈbɒn/), is a highly autonomous province of The Grand Duchy of Varkonia in the northwest quadrant. The mainland area of Gabon situates adjacent the Coral Sea and the Sea of Crete. This area is neighboured to the east by the Republic of Bloom, although there is a strait separating the two landmasses. Gabon's capital and largest city is Salisbury.

Gabon is a Mercantile Republic with an appointed Executive Council of five. Ruled by the High Lord Chancellor who acceded to the position from the first election of Gabon after the country's civil war in November 2018. The Lord High Chancellor serves as the head of state and generally acts with the advice of His Executive Councillors.

An ever expanding mining industry and foreign private investment have aided Gabon with a consistent growing economy, However, because of inequality in income distribution, a significant proportion of the population remains poor.

History

Pictured: The first known map of mainland Gabon. Circa June 2018

Establishment of the Principality of Gabon

The creation of Gabon resulted from the discovery of the uninhabited land mass by Captain Television and the subsequent claim of the land by Then Queen GetSkinny under the doctrine of terra nullius. Through the issuance of letters patent by The Queen, the Principality of Gabon was formed with the initial sole city of Salisbury. After that time, the Principality of Gabon flourished and increased its mainland territory. It then encompassed the village of Bakerswood on the southeast and the town of Cottingham in the south, recently adding the sub-province of Venice to the northeast of the capital.

Throughout this time as a Principality, The Principality of Gabon was governed by a small privy council and her Majesty Queen GetSkinny, who ascended to the throne after the death of her father, King George III, on 8 April 2008. The government was an absolute monarchy without a constitution.

After GetSkinny's accession to the throne, Her majesty, by letters patent created the position of Lord High Chancellor and through a Commission appointed BritishWanderer to that office. The Lord High Chancellor had effective control of the Privy Council and was entitled to require them to present information about the activities of Gabon to himself.

Construction of Salisbury

Current map of mainland Gabon and it's overseas territories. Circa September 2018

In June The first construction project within the capital city of Salisbury, the grand quarry, was started by Her Majesty who dutifully got to work alongside her own subjects, helping to carve out what is now the eastern most defensive structure within the Grand Duchy of Varkonia. Throughout this time, a large influx of labourers allowed Gabon to construct additional buildings alongside the quarry, although many of the constructed buildings have since been either torn down or reconstructed, the famous royal buntino bakery still stands to this day.

One of the more revered building projects designed by the privy council was the royal palace of Balmoral Castle which was to be built overlooking the city of Salisbury. The design is said to have had nearly fifty rooms, wide corridors and boasting a sizeable courtyard. Balmoral planned to hold not only the Queen's residential quarters but also the internal and external government gatherings, housing three large meeting halls.

Pictured: One of the last remaining artist depictions of the royal palace of Balmoral.

Said to need such a vast amount of concrete that industries across the country would be hard-pressed to meet the demands required. Glass smelters and concrete factories were planned and have since been constructed in Salisbury and Bakerswood to aid in any future large scale construction.

However due to budget constraints and a skilled labour shortage only a brief foundation of the castle was ever laid down. Recent government plans into revisiting the construction of Balmoral Castle has been met with positive reactions by citizens home and abroad, however unfortunately many of the well-detailed building blueprints have since been lost to history.

Protection of Local wildlife

In late June, with vast construction underway to the southeast and within the capital, concern was placed on the damage that local labourers were committing on the native floral and fauna. This opened a fierce debate within the privy council, some councillors stating that protecting the native habitat from any further construction would hamper any economic growth and throw Gabon into turmoil while others believing it necessary to protect the wildlife on a land that was not always theirs to begin with and could not be recreated in the future. This led Her Majesty to make a tough decision, ultimately siding with the native wildlife and by letters patent created defensive measures to protect the natural wildlife from any further destruction. The Queen later conceded a compromise to quell a minority of the councillors by allowing the such members of the privy council from time to time to authorise the destruction of any particular instance of flora so long as saplings of the respective fauna was planted elsewhere. This patent is generally regarded as saving the decline of the natural trees.

Tree Coverage within Gabon
June 2018	47%
July 2018	53%
August 2018	59%

Pictured: The steamboat headed by Captain Television, the First Lord of the Admiralty, arriving at Gabon with new citizens, including some Irish.

Immigration to Gabon

Remarking upon the Colony’s initial Success, the First Sea Lord of the Admiralty, Captain Television, decided that the time had come to expand the number of mainland colonists. Thus, with the steamboat The Ben Campbell, the First Lord sailed 6,748 miles to the Port of Cobh to engage with the Mayor of Cobh, Humphrey de Bohun, 4th Earl of Hereford, on the topic of finding suitable prospective free settlers from the Irish Free State to journey back with the First Sea Lord to Gabon.

Arriving in Elizabeth Bay 254 days after initially setting off, The Ben Campbell brought another six months’ worth of supplies, consisting of copious amounts of wheat and potatoes along with iron tools and seven horses, back to Gabon. Arriving with the Captain was another large grouping of colonists to join the ranks of the fellow Gabonese. Initially, there were 89 colonists, however a rat infestation manifested during transportation and killed multiple people on the ship. Unfortunately, all seven horses succumbed to scurvy during transportation and arrived without a pulse.

The Transition of Government between Gabon and Varkonia

In late July, the privy council and Her Majesty decided that it was in the best interests of the Gabonese peoples to open negotiation talks with the Grand Duchy of Varkonia to discuss and ratify The Treaty Effecting a Transition of Government for the Principality of Gabon through Cession of Lands to the Grand Duchy of Varkonia which saw Gabon lose its title as “Principality” and become a "Province" of Varkonia.

This also saw the dissolution of the royal throne of Gabon, including Her Majesty’s Privy Council. In its place, the monarchy was replaced with the Assembly of the Province of Gabon which was headed by the Grand Prince of the Province of Gabon. Her Majesty The Queen became the Grand Prince and appointed her privy councillors to the Provincial Assembly. This also saw the appointment of two members of the Assembly of Gabon to the Senate of Varkonia. Whilst serving on the Senate, these senators brought the virtue of codified law to Varkonia. This was something that had not been introduced beforehand to Varkonia. However, Gabon’s rich history of lawmaking and the prowess of its Assembly were a welcome addition to Varkonia.

Pictured: Borders of a unified nation-state between Gabon and Varkonia. Circa Late July 2018

Reactions home and abroad

Reactions in Gabon

The reaction to the transition of government was met by positive outpouring by the citizenry who saw it as two sister nations joining together, many citizens of Gabon being citizens of Varkonia and vice versa made the relationship between both countries intertwined. Varkonian flags were quickly added to the production line in Salisbury's famous royal weavery. Government buildings gladly displayed the Varkonian flag alongside it's Gabonese counterpart.

Reactions in Varkonia

The reaction within the national senate and it's citizens was highly positive, seen as a inevitable decision by both governments given the lengthy history enjoyed by citizens within both sister countries. GetSkinny and BritishWanderer were welcomed into the senate gladly and their intentions to bring a foundation of law and order acts to Varkonia were warmly received.

Reactions abroad

The reaction was mostly positive within the surrounding nations, with slight confusion on what this would mean for treaties signed by Gabon with other nations in the northwest, The Grand Duchy of Varkonia was quick to assure that Varkonia would gladly take up any responsibilities in all treaties signed by Gabon much to the approval of neighbouring countries. This action would set out the course for leaders from both Gabon and Varkonia to draft a mutual defence charter which would shortly lead to the foundation of the United Northern Congress alongside SPQR & Nevrast.

Private Investment on behalf of Varkonia into Gabon

Immediately after the signing of the treaty, the government of Varkonia agreed to aid in the funding of an eastern defensive structure within the Capital of Salisbury. This was in conjunction with citizens of Varkonia funding the construction of an updated rail station in Salisbury, the station went from three one-way lines to eight possible two-way connections to multiple countries in the northwest quadrant. The station is adorned with the Varkonian national flag alongside the Gabonese standard to reflect the contribution that was made towards to the construction.

Formation of The United Northern Congress

In Early August, The Grand Prince of Gabon alongside The Lord High Chancellor in conjunction with the Red Duke of the Grand Duchy of Varkonia drafted the Charter of the United Northern Congress in hopes that a new alternative alliance bloc in the northwest quadrant would allow nations the ability to stand aside peacefully, not involving themselves in any future cold wars while also furthering good relations and economic ties between signing parties.

Review by SPQR & Nevrast

The document was originally sent to Varkonia's largest neighbours, SPQR & Nevrast, for approval and discussion. Both nations were largely positive about the charter with a few amended changes being added upon request. The two countries would later become the first of many signatories of the Charter of the United Northern Congress.

Additional Signatories

By Mid August, The UNC had reached out to The Federal Republic of Bloom and The Kaiserreich, who after negotiations gladly signed the charter. The Celestial Empire of Tvtopia, The Kingdom of Kaltsburg and The Duchy of Westmore shortly joined the signatories, bringing the member-count of the UNC to eight total nations.

Gabon's Impact

Gabon's leading government ministers and monarchy played an instrumental role in drafting the original Charter for the United Northern Congress, the Charter itself hints to this Gabon contribution with the document being signed by each member country at the location of Balmoral Castle. This is displayed at the bottom of the Charter alongside the date.

Night of the Red Sunset

Disillusionment Within Gabon

By October, Her Majesty Queen GetSkinny, had been out of the public eye for over two months. The duties that would normally be undertaken by the Queen were being added to the daily tasks of The Lord High Chancellor and his councillors. Republicanism was growing to unprecedented levels among the citizenry and members of the provincial assembly. The Gabonese station company dropped the 'Royal' title from it's name in support of the peaceful Green Flag Protests which saw citizens take to the streets to express their discontent with the monarchy and the government of Gabon.

During this time, members of the senate of Varkonia were charged with numerous criminal offences in the courts of Mount Augusta leaving Gabon awash in shame, striking at the heart of the connection between the sister nations. The Lord High Chancellor's request for additional funding to aid with internal damages was also declined around this time, adding to the growing rift between the two nations.

Her Majesty Returns

In November, Queen GetSkinny, returned to a nation divided. Disagreements had broke out within the Assembly of the Provincial Government of Gabon on how to respond to the dissatisfaction with the actions of Varkonia, alongside heated debates of government reform. The Queen's return was not received well by either her citizenry or her own Provincial Assembly who had seen the costs of a monarchy sky-rocket with little positives to show for it.

Pictured: The Lord High Chancellor making a short speech to the Provinical Assembly of Gabon during the night of the 9th. Circa 9th of November

The Red Night

On the 9th of November, the Night of the Red Sunset, commonly referred to as the Red Night was a truly historic night in not only the decisions that were made however the mass outcry caused by the ensuing controversies that began that night. It began with Her Majesty calling for an emergency assembly meeting of every councillor, government staff were practically dragged from their beds to attend the meeting in Balmoral.

The Queen called a total of three votes that night, all calling for the dissolution of the union between Varkonia and Gabon.

Should Gabon exercise its human right to self determination and declare independence?
Aye	40%
Nay	20%
Absentions	40%

With this initial vote, The Queen declared that she had the support she needed to call for independence which sent the ministers that voted nay and those that voted abstain out of respect for the Monarch into an uproar, calling for another official vote with no abstaining allowed. The debates got so heated that the Chancellor's personal outfit of guards had to defend multiple members of the assembly from each other. Not wanting to continue this madness, the Queen called for a second referendum on independence within the Assembly.

Should we hold a second referendum on independence?
Aye	80%
Nay	20%
Absentions	0%

Pictured: Possibly the only surviving photo of Her Majesty, Queen GetSkinny,discussing the emergency meeting before calling it later that night. Circa 9th November

An obvious conclusion was reached between all members of the assembly that they wished to stop this madness in it's tracks, The High Lord Chancellor defended the Grand Duchy of Varkonia to the disapproval of some government ministers. However the majority of the Assembly stood behind the Chancellor and his track record. This bought an awkward realisation to Her Majesty who realised that the Assembly itself was slowly splitting between herself and her own Chancellor. In order to retain her support within the house, she called for the second vote of independence.

Should Gabon exercise its human right to self determination and declare independence from the Grand Duchy of Varkonia?
Aye	20%
Nay	80%
Absentions	0%

The final vote was ruled in favour of the Chancellor's ideals of closer cooperation and continued union with the Duchy of Varkonia. The Queen, unbeknown to both sides of the assembly, had spoken to the Royal Gabonese Military to ensure their continued loyalty before calling for the emergency meeting in the Provincial Assembly.