Commonwealth of Susquehanna (1983: Doomsday)

Pre Doomsday
Bloomsburg was a small town before doomsday. It had a population of approximately 7,890 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 1974, the population of Bloomsburg stood at 4,297; Berwick stood at 2,473; and surrounding communities were 3,790 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.

Exploration
By spring, the population of the area had dwindled to less than 7,000 people. A group of civilians wanted to explore surrounding communities. A group of 10 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 an 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 sucessor 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 aquite enough food and farms to be self-sufficient, and surplus for atorage 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 2 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.

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.

Independence Day is celebrated on September 12th every year.

New Industry
In 2008 after eradicating surrounding gangs (With aid, weapons, and support from State College), the Commonwelth 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 5 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 1 term of 5 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 5 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 2 member per 1,000 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 Divisions
The Commonwealth of Susquehanna has no official internal political divisions but for election purposes, law enforement, and military distribution, the government left the county system alone, but the only counties with a fully functioning government are Montour County and Columbia County. All the county governments take care of are law enforcement and elections.

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, with the mining of coal and iron from Danville and the Mount Caramel area twelve years after doomsday.

Geisinger Health System which owns a hospital in Danville, and several outpatient clinics in Berwick, Danville, and other communities employs 23% of the population.

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

Education
The nation has a mandatory education from grades 1-12, with kindergarden 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.

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.

Bloomsburg holds the Bloomsburg Fair during the end of September, and several other shows (mainly military shows) throughout the year.

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 2012 several wealthy members of the surrounding communities reopened the park to business on the anniversary of Doomsday, holding a minute 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.

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. Through several of the surrounding nations, the nation has sporadic contact with the USA (Torrington Government), Vermont, Canada, Gettysburg, Virginia, and Kentucky.

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

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 2013 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.

Modern Reaction to Doomsday
Most citizens would be willing to join a reformed state of Pennsylvania if the United States (Torrington Government) 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 (Canberra based) 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 found in the wreckage of Wilks-Barre in 2011 that has 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 pop

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.

Industry
The Commonwealth is a large steel producer in the region with the Danville Steel Mills producing railroad tracks and ties, steel armor, and other products. Much of the coal is mined in Mount Carmel. 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.

Another large section is snacks. The Wise Potato Chip Company 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.

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 two major newspaper distributors: Press Enterprise and Danville News.

The Press Enterprise is the sucessor to the Morning News, 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.

The Danville News is a small outlet serving Montour County with local news and some national. It prints Monday to Friday, with no editions in holidays.