Keslov Authority (1983: Doomsday)

The Keslov Authority is a governent located in Antartica. It mainly exists to govern trade and regulate industy.

Survival
During the nuclear catastrophe that destroyed much of human civilization, several Norweigan fishing fleets where fishing in the antartic region called Byrd Land. These fleets heard news of the war through radio, and where astounded. The fleets, being rather close together, congregated to decide a course of action. A majority of the captains assumed the worst, believing that their families had been killed and all of the mainland was uninhabitable. A fewmore enterprising captains left the fleet to try to make contact with south america. They where never heard from again.

The remaining captains continued to fish in the Islands off Byrd Land, barely scraping by. Several makeshift storage facilities where constructed on Siple Island. It was assumed that radioactivity would soon poison the ocean, and that if they where lucky, the supply of fish in antartica would bounce back. Soon, as weeks turned to months and months turned to years, almost all of the fleet ran out of fuel. Some of the ships where wrecked upon the shore, and became makeshift habitats. Most of the smaller ships where crudely converted into wind or man powered ships. On Siple Island, a few ships pooled their fuel, in case future generations would need it to travel back to the more habitable mainland.

Winters where harsh, even with the onset of the nuclear summer. Many of the makeshift settlements froze to death withing the first winter. Food stores managed to hold out, although when the fleet began to run out of fuel it became much harder to replenish. Lack of soil and weather prevented most farming. However, a few intelligent captains had saved the human feces aboard their ships, and cultivated it. Five years after doomsday, bizzare antartic farms would produce nuts, fruit and in a few cases grain taken from the ships stores. Sipple Island became the center of this farming economy. Soon, the other main islands, namely Pranke Island, Maher Island, Cherry Island and Carney Island, depended on it for food when their stores ran dangerously low. Their attempts at settlement wouldn't be completely self sustaining for several years. It is completely unsurpising that the settlement on Siple, Keslov, was one of the first legitimate population centers of the fleet.

'''Nationhood '''

In late 1987, a ANZC ship established contact with Keslov through the dynamo-powered radio system the islands used to contact one another. The ship refused to aid the fledging colony due to its captain's prejudice against Russians, largely rooted in their causing the nuclear war. This contact was not reported to the ANZC government until 1990. Knowing that at least parts of the world had indeed survived, Keslov launched a contact mission using their fuel reserves. The Crimmeria Mission, named after the ship it was based on, landed in Argentina in 1988, almost completely out of fuel. After labouring to purchase more fuel, the Crimmeria returned to Keslov. Its cargo containing seeds and fertilizer to help build the farming industry further. The survivors decided to form a government to assist in trading. While before the islands had regulated farming and fishing themselves, those industries along with the trade would now be directed from Keslov. The Keslov Authority was official formed on September 1st, 1988, predictably featuring Keslov as its capital. Olev Kerensky, one of the most respected captains and an important figure in the founding of Keslov, was elected High Commisioner. Commisioner Kerensky set up the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Trade, the Ministry of Fishing and the Judicial system. The heads of each of these departments became members of the Keslov Council, the main governing body.

The Ministry of Trade began to produce oil from fish, nuts and vegetables. Attempts to convert trade ships to using this a fuel where successful by 1989. These ships peddled fish for seeds and fertilizer. With this aid, the farming industry boomed. Food shortages where increasingly rare. Law and order was established by the Judicial system's enforcement branch, the Keslov Police Force. The KPF eventually managed to station a superviser on every ship and established offices in every settlement. Things where begining to appear authoritarian, but mostly the populace was to pleased by the success of the new government to care. Things improved further with the purchase of geothermal power systems from Brazil. These helped improve heating systems. The primitive power grid that was established also allowed for the begining of constructing heated pipes to allow running water. These signs of prosperity made Keslov even more popular.

The population of Keslov remained a problem. There where very few women aboard the original fleet, and the numbers of the survivors had further been reduced by scurvy, starvatio and internal conflict. Although most of these problems had been solved, there was no way to replace the men lost. The trading fleet, again comming to Keslov's rescue, brought female refugees from Guayane to the islands. These refugees suffered language barriers and most felt the need to marry into a Keslovite household if they wanted to find work. The Ministry of Education was created by Commisioner Kerensky to teach these people Russian and the skills they needed for their work, plus to educate any children they might have. The population began to grow again.

Official contact with the ANZC was made in 1991. Some small trade was established, although it was never as profitable as was the trade with South America. The ANZC wouldn't officially recognize Keslov as a sovereign nation until 2004.

Current Situation
Olev Kerensky stepped down as Comissioner in 2010. His administration had lasted for 20 years, or about four terms. Although technically only capable of having two consecutive terms, the constitution had twice been overriden. The elections which kept him in power are suspected to be rigged. Some credability can be given to this claim, as there was little protection against election fraud. However, Kerensky had been immensly popular. Only the rising call for actual democracy led him to resign. The Keslovites are currently struggling to set up a medical system, fix their notoriously problematic infastructure and pay for their public services. This has offset the economy. Most Keslovites are in debt, and their faith in the government is slipping. The new Head Comissioner, Alexei Stukof, has taken several steps to correct this, including the printing of a new currency and careful trade deals. However, he is seen as overly cautious. Another key problem is the rising population. Once low enough to threaten the nation, the population had skyrocketed under Kerensky, and now is begining to threaten the food reserves he established. The farming and fishing industries will once again have to adapt to feed the populace, which breached one million in 1999. Security in Keslov waters is low, although the Judicial Branch and the newly formed Keslov Authority Defence Force seek to improve this.