History of Vermont (1983: Doomsday)

1983: Doomsday
As with every other state, Vermont was affected by Doomsday. Burlington, its largest city, suffered moderate to significant damage from the blast that destroyed Plattsburgh, New York and the air force base there.

Once it became apparent that the situation was greater and more severe than a rogue blast over Plattsburgh, Governor Richard Snelling asked for volunteers to travel to all portions of the state as quickly as possible and contact legislators to convene for a special session. The General Assembly was finally able to convene on October 5, despite the chaos. They formalized Vermont as a state of the United States of America, but "acting with the powers of an independent state for the duration of the crisis."

There was hope that the U.S. would somehow reform, and soon, but as the weeks and months went by, without any contact from federal officials nor any type of signs of life outside the immediate area, a movement arose to formalize Vermont's independence. Given the growing belief amongst the people that Doomsday may have signalled the end of known civilization, and that they were alone, with no help coming from the United States government nor any other entity, advocates of the Second Vermont Republic approached Snelling and his administration about an idea that long had held some sway in state culture: the formation of an independent Republic of Vermont. Snelling was open to the idea, and agreed to bring the topic before the people.

In the meantime, Snelling was also interested in the situation in the New England and New York areas. He sent parties into neighboring New Hampshire, Massachusetts and New York on October 6, and learned four important things


 * Troy, Saratoga and Great Falls, New York and Pittsfield, Massachusetts had all been bombed. From the few refugees heading into Vermont from New York who ran into the Vermont parties, it was learned that the situation on the ground was "chaotic". One person was quoted as saying "in New York, it's warlords left and right, and people are either killing one another or killing themselves." The parties, of course, brought the refugees back with them. Vermont parties found a better situation in North Falls, Massachusetts, where refugees from Pittsfield had congregated. North Falls officials were heartened to learn that Montpelier had survived, and requested assistance.
 * Portsmouth, New Hampshire - site of the naval shipyards and a SAC/Air Force base - was bombed.
 * Unlike the relatively stable situation in Montpelier, the New Hampshire state government in Concord was "falling apart at the seams." Governor John Sununu was assassinated by rogue gunmen who broke into the State House and started randomly shooting, screaming "it's hopeless, it's hopeless." Concord police and National Guardsmen found the Supreme Court members and evacuated them to a more secure location in south Concord; when a horsemen told them that Manchester had survived and former governor Vesta Roy was there, the decision was made to leave the rapidly destabilizing situation in Concord for Manchester.
 * Despite the chaos in Concord, a stable New Hampshire government existed, in large part because of Roy and a host of Manchester civic leaders and police, National Guard, military and civilian personnel determined to survive. Roy, the President of the Senate (and interim governor in late 1982 until Sununu took office in January 1983) convened a emergency meeting of all available legislators in Manchester. Under article 49 of the state constitution, with Sununu incapacitated, Roy was sworn in as acting governor. On that authority, she, the Supreme Court and surviving legislators formed a provisional state government with its capital in Manchester. The situation in the city had stabilized thanks in large part to efforts by National Guardsmen, surviving US military personnel, city and state police and a impromptly-formed civilian militia that pledged to help "keep the peace no matter the cost". Local morale went up when Vermont parties told that Governor Snelling and Montpelier had survived.

Roy and Snelling met in Keene, New Hampshire, on December 9 to discuss their respective states' situations and to perhaps lay the groundwork for some type of confederation between the two states.

1983-84: Confederation and independence
Unfortunately, having been so close to the Portsmouth blast, Roy began to sucumb to radiation poisoning. Although she and her staff were able to hide it for the first couple of months, her health began an irreversible decline shortly after her meeting with Snelling in Keene. She died peacefully in her sleep on December 29th. She was the driving force behind keeping New Hampshire as an independent state, and the surviving legislators and other leaders in Manchester decided to seriously discuss a more formal union with Vermont.

Meanwhile, Vermonters were seriously discussing becoming a separate nation, spurred by representatives of the Second Vermont Republic group and especially with no sign of any US presence existing. Public sentiment for independence grew and grew, and was solidified when Snelling admitted in a town meeting in Brattleboro on March 8 that "independence is a sound idea, and one I would support." A special election was called for May 24. Results were fully counted by June 3, with 96 percent of voters approving formal independence with a provision to rejoin the United States "if it reconstitutes itself."

In the months after Roy's death, New Hampshire/Manchester officials, already working closely with Vermont in several areas, discussed a formal union with Vermont. Public sentiment grew to form a single state, and on May 4 voters went to the polls to choose independence or pursuit of a merger with Vermont. On May 18, it was announced that 84 percent of voters chose a merger with Vermont. State officials travelled to Montpelier to formally request a merger, but were told to wait until the special election formalized Vermont independence.

On July 24, 1984, representatives from communities across the state met in Windsor to formally approve, and sign, the constitution for the Republic of Vermont. The signing was held in Windsor's Old Constitution House, the same site the constitution for the first Vermont Republic had been signed nearly 207 years earlier. Snelling became the interim President, and was easily elected in elections that fall. On July 25, New Hampshire County was admitted into the Republic, with its provisional capital in Manchester.

One of Snelling's priorities were to provide necessities for residents, and survivors who found their way to the borders of the new Republic of Vermont. He met with farmers at the Old Constitution House and hammered out an agreement regarding food supplies. Another of his priorities was what to do with the survivors from the Plattsburgh, Burlington, Portsmouth and Nashua areas, many of whom had been routed to triage centers near Middlebury, Bennington, Brattleboro, Hartford, Rutland, Springfield, Keene, and Manchester. He ordered state hospitals and doctors to help as many as possible, but nevertheless thousands died of radiation posioning or burns from the blast.

In October 1984, Snelling suggested that Plattsburgh, Portsmouth and Nashua be declared "off limits" to civilians indefinitely, and that Burlington and Chittenden County be abandoned temporarily due to "an uncomfortable presence of radiation" coming from Plattsburgh. The General Assembly approved Snelling's ideas, while confirming Republic control over all of the destroyed areas, and Burlington, and the intention to repopulate them once "it is safe to do so".

In November 1984, Snelling and his representatives met representatives of the northern townships of Vermont and former New Hampshire in Morton. The northern townships insisted on going their own way, and gave a show of force to Snelling and his party. Those who gave a show of force were representatives of warlords from the north who would become a thorn in Vermont's side over the next several years.

Isolationism and neutrality
Over the next few years, the Republic of Vermont became self-sufficient in nearly every way. The leaders behind the Second Republic concept gained more power in the General Assembly and pushed through a policy of isolationism. This was not hard for the populace and its leaders to accept, as ham radio had indicated only that civilization somehow survived in the southern hemisphere.

Even when Vermont became aware of the existence of survivor nations in its own region, the isolationists were able to keep Vermont to itself for several years. President Dean went along with the idea until 1994, when ham radio told of the existence of the. When the APA dissolved in 1995, he personally became convinced of the need for Vermont to push out of its isolationism. He patiently encouraged and quietly pushed for Vermont to reach out to neighboring nations, a strategy which began to pay off in the final years of his administration and took off once Jim Douglas took office in 2004.

As it gradually became clear that there were other survivor states in the region and the world, many former isolationists began to push for a policy of neutrality, the idea being that Vermont could serve as a Switzerland for. Vermont would live in peace with all countries, and have no enemies to speak of (save for rogue warlords). Dean and Douglas both embraced the idea, and despite small minorities of citizens who supported, or the , strict neutrality remains one of Vermont's core policies.

The 1990s
Snelling served as President until he died of heart failure in 1991. He was succeeded by his Vice-President, Howard Dean, who served out Snelling's term, then five more terms until deciding to serve the Republic as an ambassador in 2003. The Republic learned of the existence of other nation-states through ham radio, and that Vice-President had survived and was running an  in Australia. Citizens of the Republic and of the northern townships hotly debated whether to maintain independence or rejoin a reformed United States. That argument was rendered moot when radio operators received word that the APA had dissolved in 1995. Dean then took to the Republic's radio station in Montpelier, and pledged that the Republic would carry on the American ideals of "life and liberty." Plans to salvage and resettle Burlington were drawn up and set into motion.

In the north, the townships formalized an economic union with townships in northern New Hampshire. In 1989, they also began to become the subject of intermittent raids by warlords believed to be from Quebec. After putting up resistance in Swanton and Newport and losing battles both times - and realizing the raiders' military advantage - the townships were presented with a proposal by an emissary: provide medical aid and food, and limited "comfort women", and the raiders would leave the townships (largely) alone. The township leaders accepted, and the warlord raiders kept their word.

In the south, it was a different story. Early on, President Snelling and assembly leaders saw the need to build up a strong militia for defense against any rogue raiders and warlords that would pose a threat; the militia became The Republic of Vermont Army in 1986.

The Army initially guarded the Republic's borders against threats of rogue raiders. Snelling thought it wise to build up a strong defensive force to scare away any intruders, and Dean continued that policy after becoming President. The Army fought what is now believed to have been the infamous "" four times in the early 1990s, the biggest battles being one just north of Dartmouth College in 1991, and a final battle just south of old Plattsburgh in 1995. The raiders/warlords seemed to be well-organized, and Dean and his military leaders wondered aloud where they would have gotten their training from. Speculation ranged from a rogue Canadian army unit, to Quebec survivalists, even to undercover Soviet agents. For whatever reason, after the battle of Plattsburgh in 1995 - in which the Vermont Army overwhelmed its opponent - the rogue raiders disappeared, and to this day have not been spotted in or near Vermont territory. The experience gained fighting the raiders from the north would serve the Army well in fighting warlords from southern New England.

Vermont sent expeditions into Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island in 1996. They found much of Massachusetts and Connecticut and virtually all of Rhode Island to be a wasteland. Survivor settlements were found in Torrington, Connecticut and Fitchburg, Greenfield, Millers Falls, Orange, Winchedon, Baldwinville, and Gardner, Massachusetts, all controlled by warlords. In October 1996, at Orange, the Army was able to make peace with the warlords there; they ruled their town with a show of strength and control to keep it from being overrun by the other warlords, and allowed the Vermont Army to use Orange as it saw fit.

While representatives of President Dean met with the Orange town mayor, the Orange warlords gave crucial intelligence information to the Vermont Army on the Massachusetts warlords. This proved crucial in crafting a defense, and offense, against them.

The Vermont Army staged an "invasion" from North Adams and Orange into the other Massachusetts townships in March 1997. It took two months to defeat the warlords while sparing as many civilian lives as possible. Nevertheless, while 90 percent of the warlord forces were killed, 40 percent of the civilians also were killed, either by the fighting or directly by the warlords themselves. Once the Vermont Army established control over northern Massachusetts, it sent explorers - accompanied by Army divisions - into southern Massachusetts and Connecticut. In July 1997, the Army fought the Connecticut warlords, who lost half their forces before surrendering. With the situation in southern New England stabilized, the General Assembly passed acts establishing Berkshire, Franklin, Worcester and Litchfield counties in November 1997, and admitting them to the Republic.

While dealing with the situation in old Massachusetts, Vermont officials discovered the existence of the nation-state of. While transporting supplies into the northern townships, parties from Vermont were introduced to parties from Aroostook. President Dean was informed and personally went to the township of Pittsburg to meet with his counterpart from Aroostook in October. Their meeting went well, and both countries pledged to continue relations.

In 1998 and again in 1999, Aroostook formally approached both the northern township and the Republic about merging into a single political entity. Both times, Vermont reiterated its current desire to retain its independence, and the northern townships reiterated to Aroostook AND Vermont their desire to remain politically separate from both countries. However, all sides agreed to examine the idea of some sort of New England common market, and if viable and beneficial to all sides, to act upon it. That idea grew into the concept of a Confederation of New England, a primarily economic union which respects each entity's political independence, while providing for a strong economic union and mutual military defense.

In 1999, Dean sent scouts to explore old New York and, if possible, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. They returned two months later, in November, and found "no signs of life at all."

The 2000s
Jim Douglas was elected President in 2004, 2006 and 2008 (but does not plan to run in 2010). Under his administration, the Republic has sent exploratory parties to examine and salvage the ruins of Nashua, Plattsburgh and Portsmouth. The Republic also has restarted the granite works in Barre, hoping that it can be used as a source of revenue in the post-Doomsday world. And, it has taken slow, gradual steps to emerge from its isolationism, including:


 * Sending supplies to the nothern townships
 * Sending diplomats to Saguenay, Aroostook, and the Canadian Remainder Provinces
 * Helping lay the groundwork for the establishment of an economic Confederation of New England.

In 2001, Vermont and Aroostook exchanged diplomats and established embassies in their respective countries. Both nations engage in limited trade, primarily through the northern townships that border both countries. Through Aroostook, Vermont diplomats made radio contact with officials from the Canadian Remainder Provinces, and the Virginian Republic and the League of Nations. Douglas had instructed diplomats to decline any offers of membership in the LoN, citing its neutrality "currently precluded" such involvement (Vermont has since decided to pursue full membership).

In 2006, the General Assembly voted to formalize Vermont's neutrality in international politics, a bill signed into law by President Douglas. Vermont also decided to send diplomats to Canada, Aroostook and to Saguenay, presenting itself as a neutral nation that "wishes to live in peace with all its neighbors, but will defend itself whenever necessary."

The Republic's existence was also made known to the, which has yet to make official contact with Vermont officials (although unofficial contact with citizens and Douglas's chief of staff has occurred via radio). CRUSA officials plan to visit the Republic in 2010.

Diplomats from Vermont and Superior met in Saguenay in 2007; the two Presidents hope to visit each others' countries sometime in 2010.

Present day
Vermont maintains its neutrality in international matters, including the, but has offered its facilities for peace talks between the two sides. The Republic has also offered to host facilities in eastern North America.

There is strong sentiment among the general public, as well as with the President and the general assembly, to pursue membership in the and take on a more active role in international affairs. An editorial jointly written by the editorial boards of the Republic's two newspapers of record - the Manchester Union-Leader and Montpelier Times-Argus - ran in those newspapers, and in the Rutland Herald, on August 28, 2009 calling for Vermont to "fully join the new society of nations." This is an excerpt from that editorial:
 * ...the Republic has emerged from the early years of struggle and a blunt determination to survive in the wake of the greatest disaster humanity has ever faced. Self-sufficiency was necessary in those early years. Today, however, that is no longer an option. Other nation states, such as Aroostook and Saguenay in our region; Superior in the Great Lakes region; and the North American Union of nations in the west have risen and stabilized, and are communicating with one another. Our neutrality in the politics of this new world is desirable; our detachment is not. We must walk out of our homes, off the front porch, and interact with our neighbors. The Republic will be much better off for it.

Vermont also officially has no stance regarding the Committee to Restore the United States of America. There is a small percentage of citizens who would like to reform the U.S., but the overwhelming consensus in the Republic is to maintain its political independence.

There is also growing sentiment among residents in former New Hampshire to separate politically from Vermont, while continuing to cooperate with it on political, cultural and humanitarian matters.