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 populous 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 on 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 Yemen, 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 to show 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 too 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, named 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, and, on occasion, vetoing legislation it disapproves of.

Despite these powers the President actually has a surprisingly small amount of control over Aksum, outside of occasionally influencing the Congress. However, regardless of the political realities, 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 much more progress happens 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. This ultimately gives the Congress final say in most national issues, despite the presidency being much more notable and generally much more closely watched. While the terms are six years no matter what congress you are in, but the elections are staggered. The only exception to this is the Executive congress, which is elected by the three congress' every two years. The Congress is responsible for almost every aspect of legislation, and can overturn a presidential veto with relative ease. This allows them to make some broad policy decisions, but they are mostly responsible for operating the nation day-to-day, leaving the President to concentrate their effort on larger issues. They are generally considered the "Get stuff done" branch of the National Administration, despite a partisan divide and long periods of relative stagnation. However, citizens tend to be very cynical about how it is run. Recently, these complaints have been given weight, as the Congress has become less effective, probably because of the rise of several more extreme parties, on both the left and the right. Ultimately, though, it is easily the most effective Congress in Africa, and effective overall.

Courts
The courts are the farthest removed part of the National Administration and the least funded by far. It is generally responsible for determining the content of laws, or at least the finer points of them, and determining the punishment if they are broken. The most common method of this is trial by jury (size varies depending on the accusation), but in limited cases, a panel of judges is used instead. This system is subject to much corruption, especially in the Yemeni provinces, where they are practically run by various outside parties, from drug dealers to huge corporations. Despite these flaws, the courts are by far the least berated wing of the National Administration, probably because of their overall effectiveness despite corruption.

Provincial Administration
While the National Administration is a single entity managing the nation as a whole, the Provincial Administration is a collection of smaller governments, each one managing one of the 11 Provinces of Aksum. While ostensibly these governments have smaller amounts of power than the National Administration, they can combine their power to influence - or even overturn - the decisions of the Congress, vastly affecting national policy. However, this is incredibly rare. For the most part, the Provincial Administration run their respective provinces. For the most part, they pass minor laws, managing infrastructure, and generally keeping things running on a smaller scale. What makes this set of governments so interesting, is that each one shares the same general structure, but have vast differences between the specifics.

Governors
Unlike the term President, the term Governor refers to a singular office or person, namely the highest position in any given province. However, outside of that, very little can generally be said about this position, on account of the vast differences between the provinces. They have terms of anywhere between a year (in Africa) to ten (Yemen), though most fall into the four to eight year range. The only other thing each government does is attend an annual gubernatorial meeting, where the 11 governors and their various deputies have a conference, generally held in New Cairo, or Aksum, and on one occasion Aden, where they discuss increased cooperation and trade between their provinces. Almost everything else is determined on a Province to Province basis, giving each Governor a vastly different job.

Law

 * See main article - Law

Military

 * See main article - Military

Economy

 * See main article - Economy

Demographics

 * See main article - Demographics

Infrastructure

 * See main article - Infrastructure

Culture

 * See main article - Culture