Martland

Martland (natively: Paìs Marita), officially the Mart Republic (la Republica Marta), is a on the coast of eastern Alutra, bordering Chijeragne, Izlegal, Hilnizbors, and The Gožyaries. Ethnically and linguistically speaking the Martes are related to the people who inhabit Ventora, they left the Ventoran lands long ago, arriving in what is now Martland around the beginning of the 9th century.

Martland, as well as the rest of the Serpentines, have recently been through a period of violent conflict after the break-up of the Aquizi-Martic Commonwealth. Working through the aftermath has been difficult for Martland, the thrill of independence gave way to the terror of dictatorship and war. Today, thanks to the Gardener's Revolution, Martland has new foundations to build a brighter future upon.

Geography
Martland is part of the Serpentine region of Alutra, it is bordered by Izlegal, Hilnizbors, Chijergane, and the Gožyaries. The country is divided into three geographical zones, the northern mountains, the central plains and rivers, and the coast including the delta which hosts the capital.

First Mart colonies
The first Marte colonies were established in 813 as settlements and trade outposts for Marte sailors from nowadays Ventora. The first colonies were almost exclusively established along the shores, going as far north as nowadays Lathadu and as far east as the island of Melesa in nowadays Salia; later ones would be founded following the courses of the two large rivers in modern Martland.

At first Marte settlers peacefully coexisted with the native Sedic and Gožyar inhabitants of the lands they came to inhabit, but soon conflict would arise as Martes would try to obtain more and more land surrounding their outposts, especially between the two large rivers of Martland and the island of Melesa where most colonies were concentrated. This led to all out war which the Martes would win, establishing a large domain stretching from modern Martland, Melesa, and parts of southern Salia.

These lands were split between colonies until they were consolidated by Marc le fòrt, a descendant of the old dukes of the Martes.

Mart Duchy
Marc le fòrt, after consolidating the Martic colonies under his influence, declared himself Duke of the Martes in 966; he would establish his capital on the island of Melesa, he also possessed a palace on the Mainland serving as a temporary residence and the administrative center for his mainland holdings. In the mainland palace a prince del palais was appointed to serve as herald to the duke for the mainland; the role associated with this title would grow from a simple herald to a regent for the mainland.

In 978 the duke fled Melesa after losing it, and his southern Salian holdings, in war, he would retreat to the mainland in his palace, thus angering the prince as he had previously enjoyed a great deal of power and autonomy. The duke would die in a storm at sea in 979 when trying to reconquer his lost holdings, he was succeeded by his 2 year old son whose regency was executed by the prince del palais. In 980 the young duke would die due to a mysteriously contracted illness, the prince took this opportunity to declare the end to the line of dukes and proclaim himself ruler over all Martes changing his title from "prince del palais" to "Prince dels Martes".

Mart Principality
The times of the Marte Principality were ones of relative stability, and prosperity. Reforms in administration allowed a better repartition of resources thus sparking growth in the principality's many cities; reforms in the army, notably the recruitment of Gožyar mercenaries, allowed the principality to conquer north, founding in 1011 the "/*Marches de Fontignac*/" and their associated semi-autonomous ruler the "/*Marquis de Fontignac*/" in what is now Chijeragne.

Martic northern expansion would put the principality in conflict with the emerging Aquizireiki........

This period also saw a great deal of cultural intermixing, especially religious syncretism. Indeed it is in this period that the branch of Stroomism, that most of Martland follows to this day, was born. It started as a way to reconcile Sortisist philosophical tradition, brought over by the Martes in their initial migration, with Stroomism. However it would, over time, come to include some Sortisist religious beliefs and theological doctrines, as well as some Sortisist church structure.

The Gardener's Revolution
Shortly before the Hilnizbors Accords, the Gardener's Revolution, which had started during the second civil war, finally came to a head.

The gardeners is a political movement that was founded some time after the First World War around the example of !Lady. Ms !Lady had started taking over abandoned green spaces, lots, and buildings and rehabilitating them, making them into free common spaces. The movement began as a way of helping !Lady and expanding her work to other cities, until almost every city in Martland had at least one park run by them. These new common gardens, community centers, and public spaces quickly became havens of safety and contestation, far from the oppressive rule of "Lo Ministèri" (the ministry), the authoritarian government of the time. Soon, new ideas would filter into those spaces, especially Noyonism which would strongly influence the movement, encouraging the gardeners to fight to change society. Being gardeners and inspired by Noyon the movement is environmentally minded. Being a working class movement they also have ideas of workers’ rights, overthrowing the owning class, equality for all, abolishing private property, among other ideals. Finally, they see the common gardens as a sort of metaphor of government, where everyone comes together to bring about common prosperity.

The government at the time was colloquially known as "Lo Ministèri" (the Ministry), it was instituted after the break-up of the Aquizi-Martic Union. Officially a constitutional monarchy, the country had no monarch for most of the Ministry's rule. After the death of the first independent Mart Prince the prime minister took the title of regent but never decided on a new monarch. This regime did have elections, however most parties were banned from running, and only a handful of allied right-wing parties were authorized. Claiming to be a democratic state, it was de facto a plutocratic oligarchy that enforced its rule using the army and a secret police to quell dissent.

At first, during the second civil war, the movement would organize waves of protests against the government. These protests would be repressed by the new ministry of interior security, a secret political police that would arrest, interrogate, and imprison political dissidents, the army being busy in the second civil war. However, soon !guy, an ex-spy and secret police member, would become minister of interior security, unbeknownst to the government he had frequented the common gardens in his youth and was sympathetic to the movement. !guy would soften repression, and try to reform the government from the inside. This softening crackdown would reinvigorate the gardeners, they would go on to more or less take control of several smaller cities. Spooked by the movement's newfound success the government would implement limited reforms, trying to satisfy the protesters and rioters. Unfortunately victories in the ongoing civil war would allow the Ministry to bring troops back to strengthen repression, and reverse the new reforms. Seeing as protesting was not going to get them the reforms they seeked the gardeners began to plan a more violent and radical way to reform their society.

The revolution began on the 12th of June 2006, at the beginning of the summer rains. The Gardeners would quickly take control of the main cities, as they were already present in great numbers there. Most of the army, being occupied at the border, could not defend those cities, the troops that were brought back from the front to strengthen repression were only able to slow the gardeners' advance. The government and the generals fled the capital to their headquarters in one of its suburbs in order to gather their resources. There, they would be ambushed by a contingent of revolutionaries as well as the interior security minister and some of his agents. This decapitation of the regime would put an end to the revolution, the old regime would be purged, and an interim government was put in place.

The revolutionary interim government would soon sign a peace agreement with the Gožyaries, giving up some territory to the north in exchange for peace as well as military aid against the other serpentine nations. In this treaty both parties agreed to guarantee the safety of each other's ethnic group in both countries, as well as allowing regions with local ethnic majority a degree of autonomy so as to put an end to ethnic strife. These principles would be somewhat echoed in the Hilnizbors Accords.

Sinapse
Sinapse was first developed during the reign of an authoritarian regime in Martland known as "Le Ministère", it was not widely adopted at first as it allowed for free communications among citizens. The Sinapse grid would slowly grow in Martland over the years, with more and more people gaining access to it, first officials of the regime, then government employees. In the beginning, the government would connect households to the grid themselves and then sell usage of the lines to SSPs (Sinapse Service Providers), later SSPs would begin to expand the grid themselves. In the mid-2000's the "Gardeners' Revolution" overthrew "Le Ministère" and set up a new government guided by the ideals of Noyonism. As such they nationalised the Sinapse access grid and got rid of SSPs, thus giving birth to the system that is still in place today, with a single, national, and free Sinapse Service Provider named "Confluence telecom". This new SSP greatly expanded the grid to try and cover the entire country, although some rural and hard to reach areas still are not fully covered.

/*I need to figure out the history of the grid: what kinds of cables were used, location and number of national hubs, etc...*/