Novaya Zemlya
 | |
| Official language | Russian (official), English (administrative) |
|---|---|
| Capital | Yastrebsk |
| Largest cities | Lenina, Sorensk, Vilchermansk, Alexeigrad |
| Website | Novaya Zemlya at ShireWiki |
| Forum | Forum (Archived) |
| Number of citizens | 12 |
| Number of active citizens | 0 (Nation Inactive) |
| Date founded | August 8th, 2004 |
| Government | One-Party Socialist State |
| Current leader | Comrade Chairman Krasniy Yastreb |
| Currency | BoV (Bottle of Vodka) |
| National animal | unknown |
| National fruit/food | unknown |
| National drink | Vodka |
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| Map versions | 6.8.3 - 7.0.6 |
The Soviet Socialist Republic of Novaya Zemlya was for many years the only Anglophone socialist nation in Micras and was thus a leading powerhouse of Marxist-Leninist-Micronationalism (MLM). It remains to this day perhaps the best known Communist nation on Micras and its satirical portrayal of a Stalinist state won it many citizens and well-wishers, including a number of leading micronationalists of the time.
Novaya Zemlya lay north of the River Camoleo on the Micran continent of Apollonia, border Treithar, Alteria, and Shireroth, and extended as far as the Northern Sea. It was divided geographically into the barren tundra of the north, and coniferous forests of the south. Novaya Zemlya was also for a brief period a protectorate of the Grand Commonwealth.
History
Novaya Zemlya was created on August 8th, 2004 as a weapon test site for the Red Army of the USSR. Despite it's permanently sub-zero temperatures, high winds and gene-unravelling radiation levels, a small indigenous population lived quite happily in scattered towns along the tundra.
On the 19th of November 2004 at 11:59 GMT, Novaya Zemlya was declared a Soviet Socialist Republic of the USSR by a unanimous vote at the Congress of Soviets in Moscow.
The Novaya Zemlyan SSR continued to grow physically and creatively until political turmoil in Moscow ended with the dissolution of the USSR, and Novaya Zemlya became the Socialist Republic of Novaya Zemlya, an independent state.
Novaya Zemlya experienced what its Chairman of Sovnarkom, Krasniy Yastreb coined as the "February Renaissance" in mid-February 2005, reaching its peak, with posting levels at their highest since its founding and with Yastrebsk hosting the "International Art Competition" organised by the Novaya Zemlyan Socialist Cultural Association, the competition, while only receiving patronage from a few artists was a success, WarVoid being given the first place medal. Novaya Zemlya was removed from the MCS map in 2006 but was remembered fondly by many micronationalists.
A History of Novaya Zemlya by Comrade Vilcherman
700 posts, 2 nations, and 4 founding fathers later, and Novaya Zemlya is back on her fiery feet. Crippled by a foolhardy step towards pure ergatocracy and bouts of stagnant posting, not to mention a hack on the EZboard system that deleted all the legal documents, and everything ever posted in Zemlya, the original socialist state of the world has once again returned. It’s been nearly 6 months since she was last touched, and so much has been lost and forgotten.
And it’s that memory-loss that I wish to correct here. My memory is certainly faulty, I was only a spirit that popped out of Zemlya when the real world demanded my awareness. However I do have the will and the arrogance to try and repiece the personality of this woman, Zemlya. Besides, Rob was drunk most of the time and Kevin is an egomaniac, unlike me. First I will start with an even shorter history of the USSR. First I will start with some real ancient history.
About a year and a half ago a friend of mine, known to some as Iskra, known to others as Erich, enlisted me in his micronation, the DDR. It however failed a few days later. About a month later he started the somewhat more successful Commune of Velsen, which was a socialist micronation. The only attention it ever really received was from other Dutch socialists, the Red Antilles (De Rode Antillen). Again, I am burying this in ancient history. The Red Antilles and the Commune of Velsen no longer exist. The Red Antilles were most known for that dramatic hacker attacks on others, and their membership in the socialist ComIntern. The Commune of Velsen simply was never known. However my time in the Commune, as Foreign Minister, brought me into contact with a certain royal Davis of Götzborg, and the establishment of the Embassy of the Commune of Velsen inside Götzborg (which actually lasted for about a year longer than Velsen did. Since Velsen was incorporated into the Red Antilles, and I have no idea what happened to their land.)
All that I tell you is quite important, make no mistake, it sounds like unimportant details, but I am just telling you what you need to know, to understand the attitude of Zemlya. Either way, after the fall of Velsen, my career in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics started. This was the most organized, and largest socialist micronation, ever. It organized a ComIntern, it was a prominent voice in the defense of Marxism-Leninism on the international scene, and just had a huge collection of posters.
The USSR was as typical as all micronations come. There was a huge military presence in the nation, there was a court system, and there was a Supreme Soviet, and every year there was the Congress of Soviets, which dealt with treatments of the constitution. After a while there was even an establishment of a police force, an educational ministry, an agitprop ministry, etc. Etc.
My first, and I believe only position held inside the USSR, was that of the Commissar of Agitation and Propaganda. I published the state newspaper every 2 weeks, and kept the nation up to date on all the socialist happenings world-wide. Needless to say, it was a lot of tedious work. Around November of last year, Krasniy Yastreb, a high-ranking member of the USSR founded the Novaya Zemlyan SSR, which was like a province in the north of the USSR. It was mainly used as a place to relax when you needed a break from the USSR. I, Comrade Vilchermann, was the second citizen of the NZSSR, and very enthusiastic about it myself. I also invited a contact I had made from my Velsen days, and a person I enjoyed talking with, Dear Duke Davis. He applied for citizenship in the USSR so that he could legally live inside Novaya Zemlya under an alias. However it should be noted that he never hid his identity.
Inside the USSR, debates in the Supreme Soviet were getting ever more heated. The Soviet Red Army became self-aware and was beginning to seek the ability to stretch it’s legs and exercise it’s power. Often the military comrades could be heard speaking of the threats of foreign capitalist nations and their army of hackers. With this excuse the army often attempted to garner more and more provisions for eventualities in which they could institute martial law. Myself, and a few other comrades often were the only ones there to tell them the ‘no’ that was so obviously needed.
One of the best kept secrets of the time, was the activities of the Soviet Union’s secret service. Another little known fact is that 75% of Novaya Zemlya’s founding fathers were members of the KGB. It was easy enough to guess that Yuri Zhivago was a Chekist, since that is how he’s always defined himself, crazy Stalinist. Krasniy Yastreb himself, was also a KGB agent and had infiltrated other nations. Another well kept secret was that Wheelchairman was also a KGB agent in his heyday. I, for was an agent in the very first Gasgan nation, Coralia, and there was talk of infiltrating the Kingdom of Götzborg as well.
It may be worth mentioning that somehow, the resourceful Rob [Davis] had discovered this plan before it was implemented. To this day, we don't know how.
The KGB however was never like the military, and was a direct branch of the state apparatus, and thus felt threatened by the Red Army’s constant bargaining for more power.
What we see, is how the different branches of Soviet society interceded, cooperated and contradicted. One of the final straws in it’s existence was the entrance of four new members. That of Renwan, who decided that his destiny was to be a Prophet for Islam in Micronationalism. Then along came the Anarchist, Counter-Corporate Jujitsu, and a libertarian. Finally a Rastafarian joined as well. These 4 came to cause the most strife in the nation. There was a constant attack on the state authority by these. One resulting in the arrest of the member Renwan, and his following court trial, which truly showed the complete incompetence of the court system. Then the creation of the anarchist soviet socialist republic, for which every dissenter went to, to discuss the various arts of state-smashing.
Around this peak of activity in the USSR, it was no surprise that the voice of my old friend, Erich/Iskra, of Velsen was barely heard. He had been a member of the military and had become a whistle-blower. He revealed plans of the Red Army to hack the USSR forums and institute a military dictatorship. This threw the nation into an unneeded chaos. There had already been election, and at this time Krasniy Yastreb was the leader of Novaya Zemlya, and the leader of the Soviet Union. He abolished the military and instituted complete controls over the forum.
However, no matter how hard he tried. The Soviet Union was a broken state. The people had lost faith in the world’s largest worker’s state. Posting had gone down. The former military men were disgruntled. And eventually no one posted.
During this time, the Supreme Soviet of Novaya Zemlya, passed a resolution declaring it’s independence. And thus it’s birth into the world of micronationalism. From the ashes of the fall of the Soviet Union, rose Novaya Zemlya. A nation which has lived up to it’s existence as a Phoenix, countless times since it’s inception.
Zemlya's roots were in the military, Krasniy Yastreb created the nuclear testing site we now know as Zemlya shortly after Comrade Yuri acquired an Ezbomb, which was quickly made Soviet military issue for all soldiers. Tests of the bomb were done in Zemlya with Comrades Krasniy, Necro and Yuri for some time, while at the same time, Zemlya was also built up, owing to the influx of military officials and scientists. Turquoise Square was built along with the baths and of course, the beloved Underground Bunker.
However, at the time of the military coup in the USSR (or, attempted coup) all military activity ceased. As did testing. When things were put right and Interrupt_001 was deported from the USSR, Zemlya began running again but this time with more infrastructure and its sights on being an SSR. The test sites were decommissioned, and Crazy Yuri's Irradiated Wares (Zemlya's first private enterprise) was closed down by the state, though clandestine smuggling operations continued through KGB channels. Zemlya was then accepted as an SSR and grew, as described by Vilchermann.
During the time of the Crisis of Socialism, inside the Soviet Union. The tiny republic of Zemlya had had steady progress. Ratifying it’s own constitution, establishing it’s own interior state and means of production. And it was a distinctly socialist constitution. Providing citizenships and voting rights, only to the Workers of the nation. Essentially making it a worker state, and forcing all members to be active. The tiny nation chugged along. It was the idea of dear comrade Volodya Alexei (this was the alias of Rob Davis) to start a vodka distillery. The idea seemed fruitless to the leader at the time, Krasniy Yastreb. But in a day, Volodya established a distillery which produced 12 kinds of vodka. At this time Comrade Vilchermann proposed that the Zemlyan economy should be built on Vodka Bottles and Shots. And thus the world’s first socialist economy was put into place. (looking aside from the economies of The Red Antilles, etc.)
Zemlyan progress as an independent nation was slow. The core members, Krasniy Yastreb, Yuri Zhivago, Vladimir Alexei, and Vilchermann only wanted to create a nation that could be run steadily. The state started out rather small, with no foreign commissariat, and the bare minimum of an interior commissariat, and only expanded when the Supreme Soviet judged that the nation had enough man-power to justify this, effectively meaning that Zemlya was born with no policy towards foreign nations whatsoever. And it had always been a nation that preferred to keep to itself.
Zemlya was a place for artists mostly. That was how it started out. Artists here and there, doing their bits to create culture. In all fields, from paintings, to music, to poetry, to stories. Zemlyan culture was it’s most unique attribute. Artistry and a complete lack of a military presence made Zemlya an unique creature of the micronational world.
As time went by, an enterprise sector merged. The first enterprise was Yuri Zhivago’s weapons export company. However when the USSR shut down the Red Army this enterprise expired. Then came the Vodka Distillery, which still exists today. And not long afterwards, the Zemlyan Artist Association and the Novaya Zemlyan Gazetta, which both also exist today. The Gazetta was an endeavour done mostly by Vilchermann. With a little help given every once in a while from others. As opposed to the newspaper of the USSR, the one of Zemlya, never took itself seriously. Vilchermann mainly used it to spread lies about the other citizen’s, and to boost his own ego.
In the first days of the Zemlyan state, there was a fear that the former Red Army would attempt a hacker attack on it, intelligence done by the former KGB agents provided evidence for this possibility. However time passed and nothing happened, and Zemlya thus was safe.
Time passed and Zemlya flourished. She became the hostess to the first International Art Competition. She established her own radio station, where our dear comrades Yuri and Volodya berated us on a weekly basis for not sounding as sexy as them. The football league was set up by Yuri Zhivago, and tournaments were held for quite some time, with utterly fascinating results.
Around the time of February, Krasniy Yastreb pushed forward with proposals of moving to communism. At this moment Wheelchairman was studying in France, and thus inactive. Yuri and Alexei told Krasniy that they thought his idea seemed alright. When I came back, I saw that Yuri and Alexei were more hesitant than they led on. And thus was the basis for the stopping of the move to communism.
Periodically our dear Comrade Volodya would become inactive. And this would often stimulate Zemlyan mass support for our dear comrade. Truly a nation that cared for it’s citizens, as it’s citizens cared for it. Zemlya became stable, simply because people liked to be in it. Drama was rare, and conversation was free. The light-hearted artist attitude was sought to be emulated by other nations. Some nations copied our drinking culture. Others copied our enterprise culture. One thing was certain though, that Zemlyan socialism was a success, and that Zemlyan culture was even more successful.
Months passed, and Summer came. And our leader Krasniy thought that entering communism would be kinda neat. So he started the debate about a transition to communism again, in the Supreme Soviet. The majority of workers in the supreme soviet passed this, and Zemlya headed towards communism, which made all enterprises collective, and established a ruling triumvirate in an attempt to wither the Zemlyan state.
This was an enormous failure, and coupled with the real life responsibilities of it’s members, proved to be fatal for the Zemlyan state. It should be noted that a large contributor, was the fact that ezBoard was hacked, and this completely deleted everything ever done in Zemlya. The choice was either re-start everything, or take a break. She was then put on the shelves to collect dust inside Babkha, until a time for her re-birth was ripe. Let the Zemlyan nation rise again!
Government
Unusually, there was no Communist Party or in fact, any singular or multi-party system at work in the governance of Novaya Zemlya, instead Novaya Zemlya's day to day affairs were handled by SOVNARKOM, the council which comprised the three major Commissars. Krasniy Yastreb was the Provisional Chairman of SOVNARKOM, with Vilcherman and Vladimir Alexei making up the other two members as ComInt and ComEx. The Legislative house of Novaya Zemlya was its Supreme Soviet, comprising all Zemlyan workers; with workers being defined as those who held jobs in government offices or in any of the Zemlyan Enterprises.
As it was a socialist government by constitutional law, Novaya Zemlya's was a government completely devoid of party sectarianism. The government functioned on the most local levels. In practice, anyone who had a job in Zemlya, was a member of the Supreme Soviet, giving new meaning to the term 'worker's state.' The Supreme Soviet was the legislative power of the nation, as well as the de-facto judicial power. As all grievances were taken to the supreme soviet, should any arise at a certain point in time.
The Supreme Soviet also had the power to elect the executive branch of the Novaya Zemlyan state, that of the 2 commissars. The three branches were the Commissariats of Interior view the Commissariat of the Interior. The Commissariat of the Interior was responsible for all affairs inside of the borders of Novaya Zemlya, including the economy. The Commissariat of the Interior and all its actions were subordinate to the Supreme Soviet, and could be called to answer to that entity. The Commissariat of the Exterior was a post that dealt with all foreign nations and activities outside of the nation of Novaya Zemlya and her borders. As the Commissariat of the Interior, the Commissariat of the Exterior was also liable to scrutiny under the Supreme Soviet.
Economy
The Novaya Zemlyan economy is based on the national production of Vodka, and the Bottle of Vodka (BOV) was the national currency.
Famous Politicians
There were some constant who figured in Zemlyan politics, and for anyone foreign it could be of great advantage for them to get a quick overview of the Anybody Who's Anybody in Zemlya.
Comrade Dominika Tchesnova had been a member of Zemlya for long before its lapse into inactivity. She was a co-distiller of the Vodka Distillery, and thus an icon of Soviet Economy. She was however is not the most active citizen, and there were rumors among the peasants that she is a vampire. Comrade Dominika was awarded the Medal of Exemplory Citizenship for her loyal responsibility the nation of Novaya Zemlya.
Comrade Krasniy Yastreb, known as Krazy Yastreb or KY Jelly among his friends, was the founder of Novaya Zemlya. Krasniy was the man who was the General Secretary of the USSR at its collapse, however he led the Novaya Zemlyan state into independence and success, and was loved by the people for this. Not only was the capital named after him, but he was elected the Zemlyan head of state after its first elections, not to mention Commissar of the Interior and Commissar of the Economy. Comrade Krasniy Yastreb has been awarded the Order of the Hero Of Novaya Zemlya for founding the nation and maintaining it, and the Order of Stakhanov for the creation of the Intermicronational Art Competition.
Comrade Vladimir Alexei, also known as Robert Davis was the founder of the Distillery, and the Master Distiller of Novaya Zemlya. He served as Novaya Zemlya's first Commissar of the Exterior, and was one of the first members of Novaya Zemlya. His was also a common voice heard on the Radio Free Zemlya, founded by himself and Comrade Yuri Zhivago. Comrade Vladimir Alexei was awarded Two Orders of Organizational Merits for running Radio Free Zemlya and creating the foundation of the Zemlya through the Vodka distillery, an Order of Creative Merit for his consistently high quality artwork, the Order of Stakhanov for continued quality art and vodka, Order of Exemplory Citizenship for contributing to Novaya Zemlya since its inception, the Order of the Hero of Novaya Zemlya for bringing Novaya Zemlya out of inactivity and bringing it on the path to Independence once again, the Order of Defensive Valour in defending the Soviet Motherland from the attack from the Rio Grande.
Comrade Vilcherman was the second citizen of Novaya Zemlya ever. Since its birth Comrade Vilcherman served as head of the Novaya Zemlyan Association of Socialist Culture, and the Novaya Zemlyan Gazetta. He also served as the Commissar of the Interior and the Commissar of the Economy. Like Krasniy Yastreb, one of Novaya Zemlya's major cities was named after him. Comrade Vilcherman was awarded the Order of Creative Merit for broadness in Art, Literature, and News, Order of Stakhanov for recruiting new citizens and reforming the recruiting process, Order of Organizational Merit for the creation and maintenance of the Novaya Zemlya Gazetta, Order of Exemplory Citizenship for remaining faithfully loyal to his duties, Order of Hero of Novaya Zemlya for bringing it out of inactivity.
Comrade Yuri Zhivago was a Scottish micronationalist most famous for his trademark chekist attitude. He was the founder and maintainer of the Novaya Zemlyan Sports Foundation, and Co-Founder of Radio Free Zemlya. Comrade Yuri Zhivago was awarded the Order of Organizational Merit for founding and maintaining Radio Free Zemlya, the Order of Artistic Merit for creating a whole new genre of art unique to Novaya Zemlya, Order of Stakhanov for producing over 200% of the state quota for art in the month of February 2005, Order of Exemplory Citizenship for fulfilling his duties to the fatherland, Order of Hero Of Novaya Zemlya for reviving Novaya Zemlya out of the ashes of inactivity.
Links
Soviet Republic of Novaya Zemlya (Home Page): http://web.archive.org/web/20060515232138/http://www.novayazemlya.tk/
Soviet Republic of Novaya Zemlya (Forums): http://web.archive.org/web/20060515232138/http://p219.ezboard.com/bnovayazemlya
Radio Free Zemlya (Blog Home Page): http://web.archive.org/web/20060515232138/http://www.rfz.blogspot.com/
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