Commonwealth of Susquehanna (1983: Doomsday)

Pre Doomsday
Bloomsburg was a small town before Doomsday. It had a population of approximately 7890 citizens before the nuclear war.

Doomsday
On Doomsday, the town was not targeted. It was approximately 40 miles south west of Wilkes Barre/Scranton. Radiation and fallout luckily missed the town due to wind that was blowing west at the time. The mayor and emergency teams received reports of the war. The town triggered air-raid sirens to evacuate the town. People panicked and attempted to evacuate. The interstate was soon clogged with people attempting to flee the town.

The citizens felt the impact as the bombs struck the cities of Wilkes Barre and Scranton. Many fled to the town fallout shelters or attempted to flee the town.

Aftershock
After doomsday, much of the population of Berwick, Bloomsburg, and a few surrounding communities fled, fearing an explosion at the Susquehanna Steam Electric Station. By early 1984, the population of Bloomsburg stood at 4297; Berwick stood at 2,473; and surrounding communities were 3790 people.

The mayors and town boards met to discuss the situation in October of 1983 to discuss the upcoming winter, food, electricity for the hospital, supplies and defense.

The towns begin to ration food, and the Army National Guard unit (contingent of 250 men) begin to regularly patrol the area.

Few refugees made it to any of the towns. One hundred thirty six survivors made it to Berwick, and another two hundred ninety one made it to surrounding communities. Scout groups sent to the ruins of Wilks Barre and Scranton found thousands of bodies on the roads and in the woods surrounding the cities.

It is assumed that most didn't feel that either city would be struck until it was too late. Many skeletons in cars and other vehicles were found in a pile up about a mile outside of each respective city. Multiple small aircraft were found, normally surrounded by a burned out patch of land.

Two small jets managed to land at the Bloomsburg Area Airport, crash landing. Both aircraft were put in storage due to their condition.

Exploration
By spring, the population of the area had dwindled to less than 7000 people. A group of civilians wanted to explore surrounding communities. A group of ten soldiers, a medic and 28 armed civilians begin to explore the surrounding communities, and found Mount Carmel sacked and burned. The explores estimated that less than 200 people lived in the town under barbaric conditions. When the group attempted to enter the town, shots were fired at the group, so they left the area.

Next the explorers went to Elysburg, and found the town still functioning, but in need of food and medical supplies. The travelers gave them food and water. The mayor of the town requested a meeting with the Mayor of Bloomsburg to discuss a possible union.

Danville was found to be in a similar situation as Mount Carmel was, with most of the population either dead, or gone. The town was claimed by Bloomsburg.

In late 1985 the leaders of the towns realized that there was no aid coming. Sparse reports from a HAM radio salvaged told them that the government had left the nation before it died. Marauders were becoming a serious issue with several raids that sacked Milton. The town was abandoned in early 1986.

The towns had not formed any government, having each town like a small city-state. Each had farms, and a militia for defense, but they were lacking many supplies. In early 1991 the mayors and town councils met and put up a referendum for the people.

New Union
Each town voted whether to unify and declare independence from the United States and secede, declare independence as a provisional government, or remain at status quo. The voted were overwhelmingly to form a provisional government.

On July 4th, 1991 the Provisional Commonwealth of Pennsylvania was formed as a successor state to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

The towns unified into the previous county structure, with Mount Carmel repopulated and forming the county seat of Schukill County. The capitol city was voted as Bloomsburg since it had the most infrastructure and was centrally located.

New Year
By the turn of the millennium, the provisional commonwealth had managed to acquire enough food and farms to be self-sufficient, and surplus for storage and trade. Many people were curious about the outside world and two expedition groups had been sent out earlier.

Outside Contact
In mid 1999 after eradicating small gangs in the area, an exploration unit using two pre-Doomsday improvised armored cars, was sent west. They were given a radio unit and rifles. Another, smaller team was sent south by foot. In early 2000 the southward group had returned, after discovering the nation of Reading. Areas south between the provisional government and Reading was sketchy with warlords and gangs dominating the area.

By late 2000, the second group had returned after discovering State College and North Pennsylvania. These discoveries excited the people that there were other survivor states in the former nation of the USA.

Although not long later, a man leaked news to the public that secretly in 1992 the government had sent ten explorers west. They never returned which is why the nation put off exportation for so long.

Independence
But many were saddened to hear the news in early 2005 that the United States of America in-exile had dissolved in the late 1990's. When this new reached the ears of the Provisional Commonwealth of Pennsylvania government, they officially formed the Commonwealth of Susquehanna, with the namesake being the Susquehanna River, a vital waterway in the nation.

On September 12, 2005 the government of the Provisional Commonwealth of Pennsylvania officially retired the American Flag and Pennsylvania State Flag, and raised the Commonwealth of Susquehanna Flag. It was a yellow flag with a blue vertical bar on either end, and the former Pennsylvania State flag emblem emblazoned in the center of the yellow.

Today, though, the American Flag is flown on July 4th, alongside the former Pennsylvanian State Flag, and alone on September 23 at half staff to honor the victims of the Third World War, and Doomsday.

New Industry
In 2008 after eradicating surrounding gangs (With aid, weapons and support from State College), the Commonwealth begin to heavily invest in repairing infrastructure, industry, and communications. The first coal mine opened in March of 2009 and the first iron mine in June of the same year.

The Montour Coal Power Plant that had been abandoned after doomsday but, after looking into it, much of the equipment is sill there, just needing rewired or repaired. Some people want to do that to become less reliant on outside power sources. Some light repair work has been done including repairing the steam towers and smoke stacks, and laying new rail lines into the facility.

Steel, cement and asphalt were all produced and used to build and repair railroad tracks, sidewalks, highways, and roads. Reconstruction of the pre-Doomsday primary internal infrastructure (Highways, Railroads, main Roadways) to is a current ongoing project, and complete infrastructure revitalization is expected by 2030.

Population
In the constitution, the government must take a census every five years starting in 2005. The census taken in 2010 show that there are 12,946 citizens in the Commonwealth.

Government
The Commonwealth of Susquehanna is a democratic republic, with the people electing in a governor, a lieutenant governor, and representatives, in the form of the National Council.

Executive Branch
The Governor heads the executive branch wielding much of the power that the former President of the United States would have wielded, including the ability to declare war, sign bills into laws, pardon criminals, and other duties. He may serve for one term of five years.

The Lieutenant Governor can take over the power of the governor if he becomes incapacitated or dies in office. One difference that the Republic of Susquehanna has is that the candidate for governor with the second most amount of votes becomes the Lieutenant Governor.

The Governor of State College is recognized as the ceremonial governor due to the close ties between the nations.

Elections for the seat of Governor are held every five years, and the next one is due in 2015.

The current governor is Lou Barletta.

Legislative Branch
The National Council is the legislative branch of the Commonwealth, with two member per 1000 citizens in each county. There are 26 members as of 2012.

The National Council acts as the pre-Doomsday legislative branch in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. They pass the budget, can declare war, pass laws, and hold a committee.

Elections are held every five years for the Councilmen as they are called. Next election is to be in 2015.

Judicial Branch
The Judicial Branch is arranged similar to the court system of Pennsylvania, with a bench of 3 judges, one from Montour County, one from Columbia County, and one from either Northumberland County or Schukill County.

Political Parties
The Commonwealth has two major political parties: the Democratic Party, and the Republican Party. Both were formed pre-Doomsday and are currently the largest political parties in the nation. One party that is growing in size is the Unionist Party, who advocate reunification with the United States or a Pennsylvania survivor state in the near future.
 * Republican Party: Largest political party, based in Montour, Northumberland and Luzerne County. They follow a conservative political view believing in free market, small government aid, and low or no corporate taxes. They have 43% of the citizen population.
 * Democratic Party: Second largest political party. The Democrats stress welfare programs for the poor, high corporate taxes, and strong government regulations and laws. Strongholds in Berwick and Mount Carmel. 41% of citizens are registered as Democrats
 * Unionist Party: Growing political party with 8% of the population. This party stresses reunification with the United States or a Pennsylvania successor state as soon as possible, citing the small size of the nation, lack of modern infrastructure, small military, and the fact that the nation is smaller than many states. They have strongholds in Bloomsburg.
 * Libertarian Party: This party has 7% of the population, and has seen some growth in recent years. They advocate limited government interference in people's lives, leaving decisions, such as gun ownership and retirement security in the people's hands to prevent corruption and greed. They have a stronghold in Bloomsburg.
 * Commonwealth Party: This party is seen as the successor to the former Social Democratic USA Party, and criticized as no different than the Soviet Union. Advocates push for free health care, and a strong, nationalized industry. This party is very small with approximately 1% of citizens registered as a Socialist. They are very scattered and many predict that the party will not last until 2020 at the current rate that they are losing membership.

Political Divisions
The Commonwealth of Susquehanna has no official internal political divisions but for election purposes they follow the former county jurisdiction for the census to decide the amount of representatives. There are plans, if the Commonwealth expands, to reintroduce the system to ease communication, law enforcement, and emergency services, but due to the size, this is not an issue.

All federal laws are applied to the entire country.

Economy
Much of the Commonwealth of Susquehanna's economy is based around agriculture, with 58% of the population engaged in some form of it. There are several manufacturing companies in the area, and mining has made a comeback.

The Commonwealth is a steel producer in the region with the Danville Steel Mills producing railroad tracks, and other products. Much of the coal is mined in Mount Carmel. Although the facility is operational, it produces about half a ton of steel per years, much of it going to repairing crippled infrastructure from Doomsday. Analysists believe that the Commonwealth will not be up to levels enough to export until 2030-2040.

The mills opened in 2010 after a collaboration came between some engineers from the Commonwealth with the knowledge of the mills operation, money from State College investors, and equipment purchased from North Pennsylvania. The plans to reopen the steel mills had been made in 2001 and much of the time had been waiting for North Pennsylvania to be able to produce the needed machinery.

Geisinger Health System which owns a hospital in Danville, and several outpatient clinics in Berwick, Danville, and other communities employs a large majority of the population not in farming.

Another large section is snacks. The Wise Foods Incorporated survived Doomsday, and was repaired in 2011 by several entrepreneurs who also restarted Catawissa Bottling Company in late 2009.

There are several future plans for the Commonwealth of Susquehanna. One major project that may start by 2035-2040 is to reopen the Susquehanna Steam Electric Station, and the Merck Pharmaceutical Facility.

There are no power facilities in operation in the nation. Since coming in contact with surrounding nations, the Commonwealth has repaired transmission lines and imports some electricity. There are hopes to be able to repair their own facilities in the future.

To provide power to the government, military, industry, and radio, the government refurbished by hand 50 gas generators that were converted to natural gas. On the former Merck property, there were two generators. They both individually provided 5000 kWH of power to the factory. The Commonwealth has managed, by stripping apart the other unit, to bring one back on line producing 2000 kWH of power to the nation. It is hooked up to the Danville Steel Mills across the river.

The nation has a low tax rate due to a small government and the lack of major imports and exports.

Natural Resources
The Commonwealth of Susquehanna is lucky enough to have a large deposit of natural resources at its disposal. The major issue in the nation is removing them from the ground. Coal is mined in Schukill County, Northumberland County, and southern Columbia County. Iron is mined in and around Danville, Montour County.

There is a shortage of oil in the country, with all supplies being imported from North Pennsylvania. But natural gas is in abundance. The government operates one drill in northern Columbia County, and has plans for two more to supply vehicles. Most of the newer vehicles and aircraft operate off of natural gas, with oil being used in some older vehicles that cannot be modified.

Iron is processed into steel at the Danville Steel Mills, and is shipped out by rail to Bloomsburg to a storage facility.

Education
The nation has a mandatory education from grades 1-12, with kindergarten and college optional. The national education system is divided into school district. Military service can be postponed if the student is perusing higher education.

Although the nation attempts to enforce education to help improve the nation's self sufficiency, only about 23% of the current citizens under the age of 18 actually attended school at some point, and only 34% of those graduate from high school.

School Districts

 * Bloomsburg Area School District
 * Susquehanna School District (Combined Southern Columbia and Central school districts) (Note: Currently Defunct due to raiders)
 * Berwick School District
 * Montour School District (Combined Danville and Warrior Run school Districts)
 * Montour-Columbia Vocational Technical School (Part of Bloomsburg Area School District)

Colleges

 * Bloomsburg University (Bloomsburg, Columbia County) Main Majors: Teaching, Medical/Nursing, Mechanical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Business

Medical Care
There is one hospital in the nation. The hospital is based in Danville, Montour County and is responsible for major operations and severe emergency care. They do operate small clinics with two or three nurses in several far out towns.

Medical care is basic with few medications or treatment options for doctors. Many terminally ill patents are sent home to prevent them being a drain on the few supplies left. A Merck facility that is outside Danville has a possibility of being reopened by 2050-2100. (Author's Note: there is a Merck facility outside Danville that has been in operations in some form since before WWII)

There is a high mortality rate in the medical system, so it is not used as much as it could be.


 * Geisinger Medical Center (Danville, Montour County)

Commonwealth National Guard
Main Page: Commonwealth of Susquehanna National Guard

The Commonwealth of Susquehanna maintains a small armed forces. Most of the military units were formed post doomsday, with a few pre doomsday units training troops after the apocalypse. Military service is mandatory unless the draftee can prove religious objections before a military board. If found reasonable, they will be assigned to the medical corps or a non-combat role.

Much of the equipment operated by the Commonwealth are pre-1960's equipment that cannot be replaced due to cost.

The total military strength as of 2012 stands at 250 active members; 1,200 reserve; and 800 county militia members.

History
Not long after Doomsday, the small town governments realized the need to provide for their own self defense, and organized militias, mostly armed with privately owned rifles and shotguns. The most powerful in the region was the Bloomsburg Citizens Militia, using WWII era M1 Garands, and a few M-14 rifles.

This militia organization remained until the official formation of the Commonwealth, and on September 14th, 2005 the military was officially named the Commonwealth of Susquehanna National Guard.

Since then, the army has been active in eliminating the raider presence in around the nation, and currently is performing Operation: Retribution (2006-present). This operation has 100 troops and 200 militia members in former Schukill County eliminating raider strongholds, and freeing small towns. Many of these freed towns have a population of less than 100 survivors, but there have been three towns with over 300 survivors. There has been a push to annex these towns into the nation, but the government has postponed any decision until 2018.

Law Enforcement
Law enforcement is mainly taken care of by each individual town. Most larger towns such as Bloomsburg, Danville, and Mount Carmel have a police force of about eight officers. Many smaller communities only have one or two policemen.

The federal government operates a SWAT team from Bloomsburg, Mount Carmel, and Benton. Each office has four SWAT members, and one commander.

Nationally there are 46 police officers and 15 SWAT team members.

The police and SWAT forces can be federalized in time of war.

Recreation
Much of the Commonwealth of Susquehanna's history has been reconstruction or repelling raider attacks. But recently there has been some reconstruction of facilities for the peoples enjoyment.

The town of Danville hosts the Iron Heritage Festival once a year in the middle of the summer. Organizers restarted the festival in 2012.

Bloomsburg holds the Bloomsburg Fair during the end of September, and several other shows (mainly military shows) throughout the year. The fair has reopened in 2011. Between Doomsday and now, much of the land was used as a temporary military outpost.

Prior to doomsday outside of Bloomsburg and Elysburg, there was a amusement park named Knobels, which was the largest free amusement park in the nation. After doomsday, the entire park was abandoned and ignored because people were concentrated on survival, not a theme park that there was no interest in.

In 2013 several wealthy members of the surrounding communities reopened the park to business on the anniversary of Doomsday, holding a minute of silence, and giving people free hand stamps for the rides. This had helped boost the Commonwealth economy as the government opened its borders to allow tourists and other individuals.

Sports
Sports have attracted a small group of followers, with football and baseball both being popular. Each high school has a football team, and a baseball team who routinely compete.

The main university, Bloomsburg University, has several sports teams, with football and baseball being the most viewed. The teams normally compete against high school level teams, as there is no other competition.

Currently there are no plans to operate professional leagues, but there are talks of playing teams in other nations at the collegiate level.

Foreign Relations
The Commonwealth of Susquehanna maintains diplomatic contact with most of Pennsylvanian survival states. It has embassies in State College and Reading and has a diplomat in North Pennsylvania and Gettysburg. Through several of the surrounding nations, the nation has contact with the United States of America, Vermont, Outer Banks, Canada Remainder Provinces, Gettysburg, Virginia, International Falls, Saguenay, and Kentucky.

In recent years, Commonwealth began diplomatic contact with the Toledo Confederation, the Republic of New York, London and to an extent, the Republic of Superior.

Susquehanna purchases much of the needed military equipment from State College or North Pennsylvania, with little domestic supply of heavy weapons.

Some citizens are pushing for the Commonwealth to join State College or Reading. The government is considering this for the future but for now maintains independence.

There has been some interest in joining the United Communities, but as of 2014 there has been no application for membership. Most citizens oppose the Commonwealth joining the LoN as the previous two international organizations had failed to prevent two major conflicts.

On April 2nd, 2014, the Commonwealth of Susquehanna turned over control of eastern Northumberland County to State College, in exchange for recognition of claims in Sullivan County, and Luzerne County.

Modern Reaction to Doomsday
Most citizens would be willing to join a reformed state of Pennsylvania if the United States ever reached the East Coast. A poll taken by the newspaper the Press-Enterprise showed that 68% of people support joining the United States of America, 13% oppose it, and 19% would rather join the North American Union.

Another poll taken in 2011 showed that 89% of citizens believe that the USSR was responsible for the Third World War, 2% believe the USA/American Provisional Administration was responsible for Doomsday, and 9% believe that it was just a terrible mistake and neither side was solely responsible for the aftermath of Armageddon.

In the Bloomsburg Town Square there is a piece of steel from the Susquehanna Steam Electric Station with a plaque on it saying- ''In memory of the innocent people who died in the unintentional nuclear exchange between the United States of America and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics on September 26, 1983. This is another day that shall live in infamy.''

Religion
The Commonwealth of Susquehanna is a Secular state, allowing the freedom of religion to its people. The nation has a high percentage of people who are actively participating in a religious group. The predominant groups remaining are Christian and Amish.

The Catholic Church is the most predominant religions in the region with 48% of the population claiming to be Catholic. It is under the jurisdiction of the Diocese of Reading and has 4 major parishes: Saint Joseph's Parish, Danville; Saint Colombia's Parish, Bloomsburg, Christ the Redeemer Parish in Mount Carmel, and Immaculate Conception Parish, Berwick.

Another large Christian denomination is Protestant, with 27% of the population. There are three churches in the nation. One in Bloomsburg, one in Danville, and one in Mount Carmel.

The smallest defined population of Christianity is Baptist with 3%. They have a church in Bloomsburg.

4% of the population are a mix of Christian faiths.

The Amish Community holds 8% of the population, although many are New Order Amish. They tend to avoid associating with the government. The concentration of their population is in Northern Montour County.

2% of the population claim to be other faiths, with Judaism claiming just over 1%.

The remaining 8% of the population is atheist or agnostic.

Newspaper
The Commonwealth of Susquehanna has recently formed several media outlets for people to use. Newspapers were one of the first forms used, being hand typed on old typewriters that had been stored at area high schools from the 60's and 70's. One of the first newspapers to reform was the Morning News in Bloomsburg.

Today the nation has one major newspaper distributor: The Press Enterprise.

The Press Enterprise is the successor to the Morning Press, being renamed in 2004. They operate nationally, providing national and world news, cartoons, advertisements, and coupons for the citizens, along with serving as an announcement bulletin for the government, printing upcoming bills, elections, and issues. The paper operates every day of the week, and prints a special edition on Sundays with puzzles and a color section of cartoons. Originally the Danville News operated independently, but after two months became cost prohibitive, and merged with the Morning Press to form the Press Enterprise. The newspaper is distributed in the entire nation through pre-Doomsday newspaper racks and stands.

Radio
Radio is one of the newer forms of media and entertainment in the nation. There are two major stations that operate. They are:
 * 1610 AM: Government Broadcast Channel
 * 106.5 FM: Y106.5 Clear Channel Radio

Note: All stations run on generators or external power supplies

1610 AM was the first station opened from the Bloomsburg Court House, transmitting news and information to the public. It opened in 2003 with a 1000 foot radius, and now covers the entire nation and a bit into State College. Te station is government owned and operated.

106.5 FM was originally based in Sunbury PA before the EMP blast knocked all the stations off the air. The last broadcast it played was the Emergency Broadcast System. It had a smaller station in Bloomsburg prior to Doomsday that was also fried by the EMP. In 2006 the station, with federal funding reopened and covers the entire Commonwealth, playing pre-Doomsday pop, hip hop, country, rock, and some R&B. It plays post-Doomsday country, pop, and rock. It also covers sporting events and the news, along with some 1930's and 1940's classic radio dramas including War of the Worlds, The Twilight Zone, and The Lone Ranger tapes that were found in peoples homes and abandoned stores. They have over 500 different dramas. A favorite is every May 25th, the station plays the Star Wars soundtrack in honor of George Lucas.

106.5 is privately owned and operated, but may be seized by the government during a national emergency.

Many citizens also can pick up radio transmissions from State College and Reading.