Republic of Vermont (1983: Doomsday)



The Republic of Vermont is an American survivor nation in former New England.

Early Years
As with every other state, Vermont was hit by Soviet nuclear weapons on Doomsday. Burlington, its largest city, and Montpelier, the capital, were bombed, along with Plattsburgh, New York.

This created a two-way split amongst the surviving towns and villages in the state. The communities in the north - specifically the county capitals of Newport, and Saint Albans, along with Swanton, Highgate Center, Richford, North Troy and Morton - banded together in an informal alliance and decided to stick it out for the forseeable future, especially given access to the lower half of the state was limited by the blast craters and accompanying radiation.

In the south, leaders of the surviving communities decided to work together and form a provisional state government; the Provisional State of Vermont was formalized on October 9, 1983. However, 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 - leaders decided to act upon an idea that long had held some sway in state culture: the formation of an independent Republic of Vermont.

So, on May 24, 1984, representatives from all surviving communities south of former Burlington and Montpelier met in Windsor to 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. One of the signees was Thomas Paul Salmon of Bellows Falls - who was governor of Vermont from 1973-77. The signees, operating as the de facto assembly, asked Salmon to serve as interim President until elections could be held, and he agreed.

Salmon'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.

Survivors from the bombed areas were routed to triage centers near the largest southern towns: Bennington, Brattleboro, Hartford, Rutland and Springfield. In the fall of 1984, President Salmon suggested that Addison, Orange, Washington and Chittenden counties be abandoned temporarily due to the "ongoing presence of radiation" from Montpelier and Burlington. The General Assembly approved the abandonment, while confirming Republic control over those counties and the intention to repopulate them once "it is safe to do so".

In November 1984, an independent party from Rutland made contact with a party from Morton. The northern townships and representatives of the Republic met in Rutland to discuss bringing the townships into union with the south, but the northern townships insisted on going their own way. President Salmon decided to let them go, with the hope that they one day would decide to reunite with their southern neighbors.

Over the next few years, the Republic of Vermont became self-sufficient in nearly every way, and eventually sent out exploratory parties to neighboring states in search of life.

The 1990s
Salmon served as President until declining to run for office in 1991. The Republic learned of the existence of other nation-states through ham radio, and that Vice-President George H.W. Bush had survived and was running an American Provisional Government 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. The governor then took to the Republic's sole radio station, in Rutland, and pledged that the Republic would carry on the American ideals of "life and liberty." Middlebury and Randolph were reestablished as villages in 1999, and plans for salvaging the middle of the former state were begun.

In the north, the townships formalized an economic union with townships in northern New Hampshire. They also began to become the subject of intermittent raids by the so-called "Lawrence raiders" from the St. Lawrence River area of former Montreal. 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 "comfort women", and the raiders would leave the townships (largely) alone. The township leaders accepted, and the raiders kept their word.

In the south, it was a different story. The Raiders and the Republic National Guard fought three times along the Republic's western border; the raiders retreated, for good, after their third defeat by the Republic's army.

The 2000s
As the radioactivity has gone down, the Republic has sent exploratory parties to examine the ruins of Montpelier, Burlington and nearby Plattsburgh. The Republic also has sent parties to salvage the granite works in Barre, hoping that it can be used as a source of revenue in the post-Doomsday world. It also has taken slow, gradual steps to emerge from its isolationism, such as sending supplies to the northern townships and villages in nearby former Massachusetts, New York and Connecticut; sending unofficial emissaries to Saguenay, Aroostook, Superior and the Canadian Remainder Provinces; and contributing to the establishment of an economic Confederation of New England. Vermont has also made radio contact with officials from Bermuda and the Virginian Republic, and its existence is known to the League of Nations.