Aksum (Game of Nations)

The Republic of Aksum, also known simply as Aksum (Or, alternatively, Axum) is a powerful nation based in eastern Africa and on the southwest corner of the Arabian peninsula. It is a populace and influential state - far and away the most powerful in Africa, and a major player on the world stage. It is also one of the oldest nations on the planet, existing in some form or another from 100 BC all the way to the present day - an impressive run of more than 2000 years.

The nation was originally a trade nation on the Ethiopian coast, little more than a way station for major trading powers. However, over time the nation gained power and wealth, and over a period of 500 years went from a small nation to a powerful Empire. Since that point, Aksumite history has wildly varied, from a powerful Empire to a collection of city states, before settling into its current state as a Republic.

In the modern day, Aksum is one of the richest and most developed nations, with the 7th largest economy and the 44th highest HDI. Not only that, but its massive economy and powerful trading fleet allow it to project economic influence across the world, notably across Africa and the Indian Ocean. Their powerful military is also respected, and the army has been used multiple times in recent years, mostly for peace keeping missions in Arabia.

Throughout history, Aksum has often been powerful, but even when it wasn't the nation's ability to survive almost anything is unquestionable. Even in the present, this trait shows across the board - such as the 2000 economic crisis, where Aksum was hardly affected. The nation's military, political and economic strength, and most of all, its ability to survive, have always been part of the nation's culture, and continue to be into the present day.

History

 * See main article - History of Aksum

Early Aksum
Aksum started as a trading nation situated between the powerful empires of the west and the resource rich kingdoms of the east. While it originally served as little more than a way station before Egypt, effective taxes and even smarter leadership allowed them to become increasingly wealthy. In fact, by the year 1 AD, it was supposedly the third richest nation ln earth, though to be fair, records from that era are generally unreliable, and often forged entirely. However, whatever the exact case was, it was defiantly fair to say that Aksum was a wealthy nation.

At the beginning of the first millennium, Aksum began to take advantage of its wealth and expand its influence. A powerful army was created, meant to secure the Aksumite frontier, and expand it in many places. Using the newly centralized military, the kings were able to gain far more power over their nation. Another thing the expansion allowed for was increased economic development and access to more resources. This centralizing trend was a huge boost for Aksumite trade, and even allowed them to trade the aforementioned resources, rather simply serving as a way station for other nation's trade routes. This massive increase in wealth attracted the attention of nearby nations, notably raiding tribes in Southern Arabia, who despised the Aksumite settlements om the Arabian coast. During this time, the monarchy decreased in power, and the army's power increased in a corresponding way, mostly because of the Arab attacks in Yemen. In 390 AD, these attacks moved from small raids to a full fledged attack on the cities. Of the four major cities in Arabia, two fell within a month, while the other two barely managed to hold their ground. The overall general at the time, Dakkar, rallied his army, and for eight bloody years fought, and eventually pushed back the Arabs, and recovered both cities.

The First Empire
After Dakkar returned from his conquests in Yemen, he was applauded by the local populace, and welcomed as a hero. using his popularity and the weak monarchy to his advantage, he quickly set a coup in motion that allowed him to become Emperor of Aksum. While Aksum had technically been an Empire before this, under Dakkar, it exponentially increased its power and it began to take on more of the hallmarks traditionally associated with an Empire, such as semi-autonomous provinces, and a much more powerful military. This quickly allowed Aksum to become a much larger trading power, which in turn made further expansion into Africa possible.

For a long time, this proved to be a successful model, and Aksum grew in both wealth and power, eventually taking up large parts of east Africa, as well as most of the southern Arabian Coast. However, by the late 1100s, chinks began to appear in the massive empire. The main problem was increasingly large revolts in eastern Yeman, as well as smaller scale revolts in the northern parts of the Empire. This caused massive tensions, and drained huge amounts of national wealth, and destroyed moral. Over the next 100 years, these chinks continued to grow until the Empire cracked apart, creating several smaller states.

Reunification
Following the collapse of the first Aksumite Empire, the region fell into a mixture of small states. The most powerful of these was still Aksum, but its power was greatly diminished, to the point where it could hardly effectively project it. Europeans also began tos jow interest in the region, looking to expand their growing colonial Empires. However, this all changed in 1690, when the military achieved a major victory, allowing them to conquer long stretches of the coastline. This gave Aksum a huge advantage among its competitors, and over the next two decades, it would repossess much of its former lands, recreating the empire 500 years after its fall.

The Second Empire
Following the reclamation of the lands that the Aksumite Empire had once controlled, the logical to do thing appeared to be reestablishing the Empire. This decision would mark one of the shortest and most bloody period in Aksumite history, a period that most historians consider the worst time for Aksum. The new Empire let corruption run rampant - even the emperors were subject to common bribery, to say nothing of lower level government officials. The populace was far to highly taxed, and as a further result of corruption, they saw little benefit from these massive taxes.

The only thing that could really be said to have flourished during this era is the military - it grew to massive, and probably excessive, proportions. In fact, almost 60% of the tax money that wasn't skimmed off by corrupt officials went to this area, and by the end of the Empire's era, Aksum would have a military on par with some of the weaker European powers. However, the size and power few their military apparatus eventually proved to be their downfall. With so much military power, and an unstable empire, rebellion soon followed and the Empire collapsed for the second time, this time without any chance of revival.

Creation of the Republic
After the fall of the second empire, Aksum remained united, but was in massive chaos with the military serving as the closest thing to a government. Over the next 18 years, various politicians and intellectuals would gather in Aksum to discuss the future of the nation. During this time, the military gravitated towards this group, falling under their control. Eventually, they came to the conclusion that a third empire would never work, and decided to form a republic. With this in mind, they put the military under their control, and elected their first President, called D'mator.

Immediately after its inception, the republic began to flourish, making life in the nation better in every way. It got rid of most of the problems the second empire had, notably cutting the excessive military spending and corruption. It also turned Aksum from something of a backwater to a center of trade and eventually, business, technology and even medicine. The republic would bring to Aksum by far the highest standards of living and highest income that had ever been seen in Aksum. From that point on, Aksum would continue to improve in many ways, and probably will in the future. In the future, Aksum, its neighbors and much of the world will continue to benefit from the most stable government Aksum has ever had, and will continue to do so as long as it exists.

Government and Politics

 * See main article - Government and Politics

National Administration
The National Administration - officially the Aksumite Federal Government - is the centralized body that governs Aksum. It is made up of three main components, the President, Congress and the Courts. However, the courts are much further removed from actual policy than the other two, though they do often influence the way it is interpreted. Generally, the National Administration is successful in governing its people, though corruption accusations would hardly be unfounded. Ultimately, regardless of how corrupt the government is, and is for the most part successful.

The President
Unlike in other countries, the term "President" is not generally used to refer to the holder of the president's office. Instead, it is used to talk about the Presidents themselves, the Foreign Secretary, the Domestic Secretary and various other offices associated with these. Most of these positions are elected separately, such as the Treasurer and the Defense Secretary, while other minor positions are appointed by the office they are closely associated with, and generally answer to the person that appointed them. The main duties of this conglomerate include submitting Presidential Legislation, which must be approved by the Executive Congress, and their other main duty is to carry out legislation passed by Congress.

These powers give the President massive control over the direction of Aksum, and its power allows it to occasionally circumvent, or at least influence the Congress. This puts the President at the center of many corruption charges, and on occasion, conspiracy theories. As such, it is the of the most monitored branch of the National Administration, though arguably more stuff gets done in Congress. A combination of this close supervision and an often unwilling congress only allows the President to get stuff done by correctly influenced - something that is generally looked down upon. Overall, while the President has a lot of influence, the organization is often limited in what they can accomplish.

Congress
The Congress is probably the most powerful institution in the National Administration, and is made up of four houses - The National Congress, The Unitary Provincial Congress, The Congress of Representatives and the Executive Congress. While individually, none of these houses is more powerful than the president, a 51% majority in any two of them can stop presidential legislation or overturn a veto.