Wilhelmsborough
12-01-2007, 18:25
The nation of Wilhelmsborough was formed during the Worldwide Revolution in which the political map was altered into its current form. Revolutionary leader William Kennedy united the citizens of Crimea under the banners of Liberty, Equality, and Progress. Under Kennedy’s leadership, order returned to the Crimean Peninsula as a new nation was founded. It would be known as the Principality of Wilhelmsborough, and William Kennedy would be its royal sovereign.
But as Prince William consolidated his power, the citizenry grew worried. During the revolution, they had followed Kennedy because he promised liberty and progress. Yet such things seemed to be contradicted by William’s decision to make himself Prince. Prince William realized the people’s worries and moved quickly to instate a flurry of educational, health care, and environmental edicts in order to placate them. This only made the people more worried. As William was Prince and Sovereign, and therefore not subject to any checks and balances, the people feared that just as quickly as he could issue these edicts, he could rescind them just as fast.
Prince William wasn’t one to give up any of his political power so quickly. But seeing that his edicts were having little effect in swaying public opinion, he devised a last-ditch effort of legislation to placate the people’s worries once and for all. The result was a set of Amendments known as “Citizen Laws.”
Citizen Laws are laws that the government (namely Prince William) is required to observe and obey, should it have the support of its citizenry. Just as the government creates rules that the people must obey, the Citizen Laws are rules created by the people that the government must obey. And just as government uses the military and the police to enforce these laws and protect the state, the people use armed militias to protect the people and ensure that the government follows the Citizen Laws.
The Citizen Laws are basically promises that the Prince made to the people of Wilhelmsborough. These promises touch upon several subjects, such as care of the sick and the poor, the environment, and education. But the most notorious and oft-quoted section of these laws lies right at the beginning with the following text:
“It is the right of the citizenry of Wilhelmsborough to form political lobbying groups and/or militias, in order to more easily protect and defend their interests.”
With just twenty-seven words, the history of the Principality would be forever changed. Almost immediately, armed militia groups began springing up. Today, there are so many militia groups, that it’s extremely difficult to keep track of them all. Some of them are small, with only a dozen to a couple hundred members. Others are large and expansive, with hundreds of thousands of members filling the ranks. It’s not uncommon to see a bit of overlay, with one person belonging to several different militias at once.
These groups serve various causes, some trivial, some significant. Their range of influence spans from dark basements to entire neighborhoods and cities. They are all led by self-styled leaders who give themselves high-ranking titles such as “Field Marshal” or “Secretary General.” These titles usually do not reflect any formal military or leadership experience as most leaders are self-appointed.
There are however, several militia groups that are well-armed, well-organized, and have capable and effective leadership. The capabilities of some groups are said to rival that of the Wilhelmsborough Army. Some might consider that a threat to Prince Williams hold on power, but it is usually the case that other militia groups are able to prevent or intimidate each other from doing something incredibly stupid that might endanger all the militia groups in the Principality.
There is a secret ulterior motive as to why Prince William allowed the formation of these paramilitary groups. If it were the case that the nation was at war and foreign soldiers found their way onto Principality soil, then these militia groups would be forced to act in defense of the country, alongside the soldiers.
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Listed here are some of the most prominent of the militias.
Name: People’s Militia
Numbers: 175,500
Affiliation: Communist
Leader: “Secretary” Adam Rhodes
The People’s Militia is a far-left organization that works to defend the interests of communists, militant environmentalist and animal-rights activists, and anarchists. When any of the aforementioned groups hold rallies, the People’s Militia is there to provide support and protection.
This militia group is against the one-man rule of Prince William and wish to establish a government where every single person’s interests are represented, and nobody is more powerful than anybody else. Their actions are kept in check however by the close attention of both the government and other militia groups. Though Prince William is very much liberal, he finds the beliefs of this group to be too radical to work in practice. He only allows The People’s Militia to continue existing because they have yet to cause any large-scale problems within the country.
The People’s Militia is one of the original three militia groups, along with the Citizen’s Militia, and the Patriot Guard.
--------
Name: Union Army
Numbers: 50,000
Affiliation: Union Labor Workers
Leader: “Commander” Morgan O’Leary
The Union Army is a break-away faction of the People’s Militia. It was formed by workers who found the organization’s Far Left ideology too extreme. This organization represents the interests of the Labor, Construction, and Industrial workers of Wilhelmsborough. Whenever there is a strike or a labor dispute, the Union Army is called in to ensure that no harm befalls the workers. Because of this, the Union Army is opposed to the Corporate Mercenaries, who are often called in to break up strikes and protests. There have been several clashes between the two groups.
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Name: Farmer’s Defense Guild
Numbers: 25,000
Affiliation: Farmers and Agricultural Workers
Leader: “General” Jeremiah Sterns
The Farmer’s Defense Guild is a break-away group of the Union Army. When the workers broke away from the People’s Militia due to the group’s extremism, they set up the Union Army to protect and defend their interests.
Disagreements arose when the Farmers and Agricultural workers accused the Union Army of having a bias towards Labor and Industrial workers. When they failed to resolve their differences, they agricultural workers left the Union Army and set up the Farmer’s Defense Guild. Their job is to protect the interests of farmers, and often show up to protect them when they air their grievances in public. Just like the Union Army however, the FDG is opposed to the Corporate Mercenaries, and have fought with them in the past. The Citizen’s Militia will often lend their assistance.
--------
Name: Citizen’s Militia
Numbers: 250,000
Affiliation: Populist
Leader: “General” Brad Sullivan
The most prestigious and well-armed of the Principality’s paramilitary forces, the Citizen’s Militia are a group that follows a centrist path, choosing neither a left-wing nor a right-wing ideology. Much like the People’s Militia, they claim to represent the interests of all the people of Wilhelmsborough, but unlike the aforementioned group the Citizen’s Militia prefers to walk a more cautious path. The forces of the organization often show up where they believe that the government is causing trouble. Very rarely do these confrontations result in any fighting. The Citizen’s Militia believes that democratic reforms are necessary to improve the state of things within the Principality but they do not believe that a total overthrow of the state is required.
The Citizen’s Militia is one of the original three militia groups, along with the People’s Militia, and the Patriot Guard.
--------
Name: Patriot Guard
Numbers: 145,000
Affiliation: Conservative
Leader: “Supreme Commander” Brendan Compson
The Patriot Guard is a right-wing militia. They take a conservative stance regarding matters of international relations, race issues, religion, and government (taxes). The Patriot Guard opposes the liberal policies of Prince William, believing that they will be the downfall of the nation. The group often stages public protests against the international policies of the government. They are smart enough to avoid a confrontation with the military, however.
The Patriot Guard is one of the original three militia groups, along with the Citizen’s Militia, and the People’s Militia.
--------
Name: Corporate Mercenaries
Numbers: 58,000
Affiliation: Capitalist
Leader: “CEO” Anthony Pace
This militia group serves the interests of businesses and corporations. Unlike the other militias, the Corporate Mercenaries are the closest thing to a career paramilitary group. They were once part of the Patriot Guard, but split away from the group when they found that business interests were given second rein to matters of politics, race, immigration, and religion. Because of their close business ties, the Corporate Mercenaries are one of the most heavily funded and equipped militia groups in the Principality. Unfortunately for them, they are also the most disliked of the militia groups, opposed by nearly everyone, including the vast Citizen’s Militia. Such opposition serves to keep the group mostly in check.
But as Prince William consolidated his power, the citizenry grew worried. During the revolution, they had followed Kennedy because he promised liberty and progress. Yet such things seemed to be contradicted by William’s decision to make himself Prince. Prince William realized the people’s worries and moved quickly to instate a flurry of educational, health care, and environmental edicts in order to placate them. This only made the people more worried. As William was Prince and Sovereign, and therefore not subject to any checks and balances, the people feared that just as quickly as he could issue these edicts, he could rescind them just as fast.
Prince William wasn’t one to give up any of his political power so quickly. But seeing that his edicts were having little effect in swaying public opinion, he devised a last-ditch effort of legislation to placate the people’s worries once and for all. The result was a set of Amendments known as “Citizen Laws.”
Citizen Laws are laws that the government (namely Prince William) is required to observe and obey, should it have the support of its citizenry. Just as the government creates rules that the people must obey, the Citizen Laws are rules created by the people that the government must obey. And just as government uses the military and the police to enforce these laws and protect the state, the people use armed militias to protect the people and ensure that the government follows the Citizen Laws.
The Citizen Laws are basically promises that the Prince made to the people of Wilhelmsborough. These promises touch upon several subjects, such as care of the sick and the poor, the environment, and education. But the most notorious and oft-quoted section of these laws lies right at the beginning with the following text:
“It is the right of the citizenry of Wilhelmsborough to form political lobbying groups and/or militias, in order to more easily protect and defend their interests.”
With just twenty-seven words, the history of the Principality would be forever changed. Almost immediately, armed militia groups began springing up. Today, there are so many militia groups, that it’s extremely difficult to keep track of them all. Some of them are small, with only a dozen to a couple hundred members. Others are large and expansive, with hundreds of thousands of members filling the ranks. It’s not uncommon to see a bit of overlay, with one person belonging to several different militias at once.
These groups serve various causes, some trivial, some significant. Their range of influence spans from dark basements to entire neighborhoods and cities. They are all led by self-styled leaders who give themselves high-ranking titles such as “Field Marshal” or “Secretary General.” These titles usually do not reflect any formal military or leadership experience as most leaders are self-appointed.
There are however, several militia groups that are well-armed, well-organized, and have capable and effective leadership. The capabilities of some groups are said to rival that of the Wilhelmsborough Army. Some might consider that a threat to Prince Williams hold on power, but it is usually the case that other militia groups are able to prevent or intimidate each other from doing something incredibly stupid that might endanger all the militia groups in the Principality.
There is a secret ulterior motive as to why Prince William allowed the formation of these paramilitary groups. If it were the case that the nation was at war and foreign soldiers found their way onto Principality soil, then these militia groups would be forced to act in defense of the country, alongside the soldiers.
--------
Listed here are some of the most prominent of the militias.
Name: People’s Militia
Numbers: 175,500
Affiliation: Communist
Leader: “Secretary” Adam Rhodes
The People’s Militia is a far-left organization that works to defend the interests of communists, militant environmentalist and animal-rights activists, and anarchists. When any of the aforementioned groups hold rallies, the People’s Militia is there to provide support and protection.
This militia group is against the one-man rule of Prince William and wish to establish a government where every single person’s interests are represented, and nobody is more powerful than anybody else. Their actions are kept in check however by the close attention of both the government and other militia groups. Though Prince William is very much liberal, he finds the beliefs of this group to be too radical to work in practice. He only allows The People’s Militia to continue existing because they have yet to cause any large-scale problems within the country.
The People’s Militia is one of the original three militia groups, along with the Citizen’s Militia, and the Patriot Guard.
--------
Name: Union Army
Numbers: 50,000
Affiliation: Union Labor Workers
Leader: “Commander” Morgan O’Leary
The Union Army is a break-away faction of the People’s Militia. It was formed by workers who found the organization’s Far Left ideology too extreme. This organization represents the interests of the Labor, Construction, and Industrial workers of Wilhelmsborough. Whenever there is a strike or a labor dispute, the Union Army is called in to ensure that no harm befalls the workers. Because of this, the Union Army is opposed to the Corporate Mercenaries, who are often called in to break up strikes and protests. There have been several clashes between the two groups.
--------
Name: Farmer’s Defense Guild
Numbers: 25,000
Affiliation: Farmers and Agricultural Workers
Leader: “General” Jeremiah Sterns
The Farmer’s Defense Guild is a break-away group of the Union Army. When the workers broke away from the People’s Militia due to the group’s extremism, they set up the Union Army to protect and defend their interests.
Disagreements arose when the Farmers and Agricultural workers accused the Union Army of having a bias towards Labor and Industrial workers. When they failed to resolve their differences, they agricultural workers left the Union Army and set up the Farmer’s Defense Guild. Their job is to protect the interests of farmers, and often show up to protect them when they air their grievances in public. Just like the Union Army however, the FDG is opposed to the Corporate Mercenaries, and have fought with them in the past. The Citizen’s Militia will often lend their assistance.
--------
Name: Citizen’s Militia
Numbers: 250,000
Affiliation: Populist
Leader: “General” Brad Sullivan
The most prestigious and well-armed of the Principality’s paramilitary forces, the Citizen’s Militia are a group that follows a centrist path, choosing neither a left-wing nor a right-wing ideology. Much like the People’s Militia, they claim to represent the interests of all the people of Wilhelmsborough, but unlike the aforementioned group the Citizen’s Militia prefers to walk a more cautious path. The forces of the organization often show up where they believe that the government is causing trouble. Very rarely do these confrontations result in any fighting. The Citizen’s Militia believes that democratic reforms are necessary to improve the state of things within the Principality but they do not believe that a total overthrow of the state is required.
The Citizen’s Militia is one of the original three militia groups, along with the People’s Militia, and the Patriot Guard.
--------
Name: Patriot Guard
Numbers: 145,000
Affiliation: Conservative
Leader: “Supreme Commander” Brendan Compson
The Patriot Guard is a right-wing militia. They take a conservative stance regarding matters of international relations, race issues, religion, and government (taxes). The Patriot Guard opposes the liberal policies of Prince William, believing that they will be the downfall of the nation. The group often stages public protests against the international policies of the government. They are smart enough to avoid a confrontation with the military, however.
The Patriot Guard is one of the original three militia groups, along with the Citizen’s Militia, and the People’s Militia.
--------
Name: Corporate Mercenaries
Numbers: 58,000
Affiliation: Capitalist
Leader: “CEO” Anthony Pace
This militia group serves the interests of businesses and corporations. Unlike the other militias, the Corporate Mercenaries are the closest thing to a career paramilitary group. They were once part of the Patriot Guard, but split away from the group when they found that business interests were given second rein to matters of politics, race, immigration, and religion. Because of their close business ties, the Corporate Mercenaries are one of the most heavily funded and equipped militia groups in the Principality. Unfortunately for them, they are also the most disliked of the militia groups, opposed by nearly everyone, including the vast Citizen’s Militia. Such opposition serves to keep the group mostly in check.