California (Night of the Living Alternate History Map Game)

The Republic of California is a nation formed from the northern part of what consisted the former US state of California.

Politics
Prior to the 1981 Californian Revolution, the country was governed by a constitution drafted in June 1971, following the overthrow of the regency, calls for a republican form of government.

Executive body
The president of California, elected by popular vote to a five-year term, is the head of state and the commander-in-chief of the armed forces. He or she designates a prime minister from the majority party in the National Assembly and must accept the cabinet the premier names. However, the premier can be dismissed under extraordinary circumstances.

Legislature
Legislative power is vested in a National Assembly, a bicameral body consisting of 200 members in the lower house, the Congress of the People, and 24 members in the upper house, the Council of the Republic.

Judiciary
The highest tribunal is the Supreme Court of the Republic, made up of at least 18 judges elected for life. Ten are appointed by provincial governors, four by the National Assembly, three by the president, and the remaining one by the mayor of Eureka. It nominates judges of lower tribunals, such as the courts of appeal, administrative courts, and courts of first instance.

Political Parties

 * Libertarian Party- Third party that reflects the ideas of libertarianism.
 * Liberal Vanguard Party- This party promotes a socially liberal and progressive platform. Successor to the original pre-doomsday Democratic Party in OTL.
 * Republican Party- Successor to the original pre-doomsday Republican Party in OTL.
 * All- California  Socialist Movement- A Marxist-Leninist organization that once supported Albert Wood during his regime. It promotes to reinstall a communist government.
 * People's Congress of California- another prominent Marxist-Leninist organization in California following the death of Wood. It consists of nearly all of the country's workers' unions.
 * Golden Bear Party- Reactionary, conservative party that favors the creation of a monarchy in California.
 * Legion Party- The political arm of the Iron Shield. It is a far-right nationalist party supporting the emphasis of  Victorian morality, nationalism, irrendentism, militarism, and reunifying all the succesor states of the former US state under their control (reconquista).  The very first neo-fascist organization since World War II. Currently the largest and ruling party in  Northern California.

Local Government


Northern California is divided into six provinces and the city of Eureka. each province is ruled by a governor. Provinces are divided into counties.

Pre-Apocalypse
Prior to the apocalypse, most of what is now the Republic of California consisted of the Sacramento River Valley, which once contained much of the OTL state's gold mines, which are now depleted.

Independence Movement
Then governor of California Edmund Gerald "Pat" Brown, Sr., an advocate for the state's independence, responded to growing call of its Latino minority to join Mexico, sent a proposal to the Congress of the United States demanding a status of autonomy equivalent to that of the Philippines during the 1930's (an associated state). The proposal was fulfilled by the passage of a bill that established a provisional government for the state, then after eight years a plebiscite would be held whether to join Mexico or become independent on its own feet.

Provisional Government of the State of California (1961-1969)
The state is now beginning its step towards independence, and then Brown changes his title from governor to state executive. Then attorney-general Stanley Mosk was appointed premier. At this time, progress on the state increased. As nationalist demands were soothed, businesses in the state enjoyed high income.



During its slightly less than a decade of existence, the State of California had a strong executive. Its legislature, the National Assembly, was at first unicameral, but later bicameral. Women's suffrage was adopted and the economy boomed - especially in major cities, enjoyed an all time high, as a result of good management.

The performance of the economy was initially good despite challenges from various nationalist uprisings. Taxes collected from robust mining and tourism industries helped boost the economy by funding infrastructure and other development projects. However, growth was halted due to the outbreak of the Human-Zombie War.

Monarchist Period (1969-1971)
A plebiscite was held on May 14, 1969, with the those supporting independence victorious by a tiny margin over joining Mexico, causing unrest in the country. To prevent civil war, Brown resigned as state executive, appointing premier Mosk to replace him. He decided to make the newly-independent state a constitutional monarchy, with himself as regent. A civilian junta was installed then, thereby postponing it until 1970, when it stepped down from pressure by the National Assembly, dominated by monarchists.

A invitation was sent by the National Assembly to Humbert II (the last king of Italy, who was in exile) to become ruler of the country. Humbert responded to the invitation, and accepted it, but in 1971, the plans were cut short by a Zombie outbreak in the extreme north (suppressed the following month), followed by a coup.

The Fourth of June coup d'etat and Liberal Democracy (1971-1981)
A group of liberal-minded officers staged a sudden coup d'etat on June 4, 1971, drove regent-premier Mosk from office, deposed the regency, and declared California a republic. In August of the same year, the National Assembly was dissolved followed by elections. Rudolph Laden was elected president. He initiated a series of programs, such as building up its army, improvement of infrastructure, and the establishment of a special internal police, the Internal Civil Defence Forces, whose function is to suppress any outbreak by force should one happen, and vaccination projects, done by a newly-established agency, the Civil Emergency and Defence Agency. The country once again enjoyed a period of stability and a booming economy. Elections were held again in 1976, and Arnold Gaitan, a Latino, succeeded Laden as president.

Californian Revolution and the Wood Regime (1981-1983)
Main article: Californian Revolution of 1981 

In February 1981, in a session of the National Assembly, a top secret operation, dubbed Operation Syringe, whose mission is to eliminate high-ranking criminals by using syringes full of the Z-virus, was exposed by a political critic, who in turn was informed by a concerned citizen, a nurse, said that she heard from an injured 21-year old man that he was used by the Civil Emergency and Defence Agency on destroying a gang of blood thirsty killers, the so-dubbed "Blood Bathers". the mission was simple: infect the gang with the Z-virus. He disguised himself as a deadbeat gangster, pretending to sell off the syringes full of the virus to the gang members as heroin, which worked. The exposé caused outrage within the country and abroad. The United Cure Organization condemned the top secret operation, and it was discontinued. Later, on June 7, another group of officers, inspired by the Egyptian Revolution of 1952, formed an dissident movement, the Free Officers Union for Disease Control and Clean Government, led by Sergeant Albert Wood, staged a coup, forcing Gaitan into exile. The next month, Wood formed a new government, suppressed all opposition, suspended civil liberties, imposed strict censorship, and remodeled the economy along socialist lines. The military personnel associated with Operation Syringe were relieved of their command, dismissed from service, and received prison sentences. In mid- June of 1982, on the first anniversary of the coup that brought him to power, he declared Northern California a one-party state. The National Assembly was dissolved, and he began ruling by decree, starting a reign of terror. Suspected dissidents were purged from the government, and an expedition force, called CUAZEF, or Californian Unification and Anti-Zombie Expeditionary Forces, under the command of Lt. James Grant, was formed. On August 15, the expedition force was deployed to invade the southern half of what used to be the US state of California.

Restoration of democracy and the "Black Hoods" (1983)
President Wood was killed in an air crash after delivering a speech in Eureka, and his brother, Gen. James Wood assumes the presidency. He improved relations with the major world powers and asks for mutual alliance with the United Republic. He submits his country's application to the ISAF, but before doing so, he improves the education system, restored civil liberties, and resigned as president to reinstate Gaitan's government-in-exile. Arnold Gaitan died of cardiac arrest after returning to California to resume his term, so vice-president Louis Hummerton assumes the presidency on 27 April 1983. A mysterious human-Zombie hybrid strain that was first detected in male adolescents, mostly senior high school students and army recruits, shocks the nation to its core. They normally wear hooded sweatshirts, and behave much like cats on attacking their victims. As a result, President Hummerton asks the Republic of Florida for shipments of Phalanx to suppress the internal epidemic. But an idea came to a former Free Officers' Union member, Gen. Bill Edwards, to use the hybrids (which he dubbed 'hunters' because of their behavior) to form a commando force, the Black Hoods.

Rise of the Iron Shield and Pittankel's extreme right dictatorship
A fascist organization, the Legion of the Iron Shield, or simply the Iron Shield was formed by a group of right-wing officers which coalesced around a young officer named Louis Pittankel. By July of 1983, about 40% of the regular army commanders and a whopping 54% of the CUAZEF commanders were members of the Iron Shield. At first, President Hummerton tolerated them, but later attempted to suppress them, because of their majority in his government. Elections were held in April 1984, and the Iron Shield won a landslide victory. As a result Iron Shield chairman Louis Pittankel became premier, and Hummerton went into exile. Pittankel later took over the presidency, and became president and premier at the same time. He later formed a new government, suppressed all opposition, suspended civil liberties, imposed strict censorship, slaughtered hundreds of dissidents, landing opposition leaders to jail, and decreed the formation of a single-party state.

Invasion of the Bay Republic
President Pittankel again dispatches a note to the Bay Republic to join Northern California. The note was rejected and so Pittankel decided to declare war on the Bay Republic. By 1984, Northern Californian soldiers entering southern Mendocino. Some of the soldiers take up the flag of Jefferson, to which many far northerners affiliate.The North Californian ship R.C.S. Alex Mercer blocks the entrance to the bay and the R.C.S. Modoc prepares to shell the city of San Fransisco. North Californian foot soldiers captured the city of San Rafael after intense fighting with the Bay Republic's militia forces, followed by San Mateo 8 days later. The Travis Air Force Base also fell, allowing North Californian MiGs to launch air strikes on Oakland, Alcatraz, and Treasure Island. Later, a group of radical northerners successfully assassinates Virgil Baal, the leader of the Bay Republic.