Réunion (1983: Doomsday)

Réunion La Réunion (French) (Part of the RTFA) Timeline: 1983: Doomsday OTL equivalent: Réunion
Coat of arms
Réunion Island shown in the Indian Ocean
Capital		Saint-Denis
Official languages		French
Government
-	President	Didier Robert
Area
-	Total	2,512 km2  970 sq mi
Population
-	2013 estimate	520,000
-	1982 census	515,814

Réunion (French: La Réunion, IPA: [la ʁeynjɔ̃]; previously Île Bourbon) is a former French island and current territory of the Republic of the French Southern Territories, located in the Indian Ocean, east of Madagascar, about 200 km (120 mi) southwest of Mauritius, the nearest island.

The island of Réunion and the nearby island of Mayotte are the only RTFA territories in the Indian Ocean. The island of Réunion was one of the first French-speaking territories to join the Republic of the French Southern Territories outside the Pacific Ocean and the nation's initial union, housing a population of over 700,000 people at the time of ascension into the republic as an official territory.

The island of Réunion is run by a legislative assembly, which answers to the national assembly of the Republic. The executive branch of the island is run by an elected president. The island's president is currently Didier Robert, who has been in office since his election in 2010, and is currently serving a four year term in office.

History

Pre Apocalypse

See: Pre Apocalypse History of Réunion

Little records exist of the island's history before European settlement by the Portuguese in the early sixteenth century. It is believed that the island may have been known as Dina Morgabin by Arab traders, and was possibly featured on a 1153 AD map by Al Sharif el-Edrisi. It is possibly that he island may also have been visited by Swahili or Malay sailors.

Around 1507 the Portuguese made contact with the island, possibly by the expedition led by Dom Pedro Mascarenhas, who gave his name to the island group around Réunion, known as the Mascarenes. The island itself would later be named Santa Apolónia, possibly on February 9, her feast day. In 1509 Diogo Lopes de Sequeira is said to have landed on the islands of Reunion and Rodrigues.

As time pasted Portugal's control of the island virtually vanished, as it had remained almost completely untouched by the Portuguese, leading to the French occupying the island and administrating it from Port Louis, Mauritius. The first French claims would date back to the June 1638, with François Cauche and Salomon Goubert making land there, although this would be solidified in 1642 when Jacques Pronis of France deported a dozen French mutineers to the island from Madagascar. The convicts were returned to France several years later, and in 1649, the island was named Île Bourbon after the House of Bourbon. Colonization officially began in 1665, when the French East India Company sent the first group of 20 settlers.

In 1793 a decree of the Convention with the fall of the House of Bourbon renamed the island "Réunion", commemorating the union of revolutionaries from Marseille with the National Guard in Paris, which took place on 10 August 1792. The island was again renamed to "Île Bonaparte" in 1801, after Napoleon Bonaparte.

Commodore Josias Rowley led an invasion by a Royal Navy squadron in 1810, who used the “Bourbon” name during the last few years of the war. The island retained the name Bourbon after the Congress of Vienna, which returned the island to France. This remained until the 1848 French Revolution that led to the fall of the restored Bourbons, renaming the island back to “Réunion”.

During this time the island saw a rapid period of African, Chinese, Malay, and Indian immigration, alongside Europeans. Until 1848 many non Europeans on the island were slaves, and later indentured workers.

Post Apocalypse

During the nuclear exchange the areas of eastern Africa were completely untouched by nuclear strikes, leaving the island of Réunion is good condition. Many ships that were operating around the area chose to dock at Réunion, as did many refugees fleeing the African coast out of panic, although this was far less than Mayotte, another nearby French island.

Almost immediately an assembly-style government was created using the former French system as a foundation and template. The new government began drafting the Relief Act; a plan to secure valuable resources on the island in case of food shortages, to deploy the police force to protect the island until a proper military could be created, and to establish new sources of trade on the island.

Following the act's passage into law, the police force was ordered to crack down on looting and other crimes. Another many focus was the illegal immigration issue, which had led to over crowded streets in poorer neighborhoods as refugees flooded the island. The island of Réunion would institute a policy modeled after the Mayotte model, allowing a certain number of refugees per year, and allotting a certain amount of aid to distribute.

Since the Relief Act the government has slowly developed a military to defend the island. The main branch of the island's military, known as the Réunion Defense Navy, was initially comprised of several small repurposed trade ships and scouting vessels, used primarily to protect the island and crack down on illegal immigration and smuggling into the island. The land force would be comprised of a volunteer-based reserve, numbering a few thousand, leaving much of the work of patrolling the island to local police units.

In the early 2000's the island of Réunion made contact with the French territories of the Pacific, now organized into the Republic of the French Southern Territories. After a vote from the assembly the island joined the nation, becoming the first non-Pacific territory to do so. At first solely representing the Indian Ocean, a regional capital was established in Saint-Denis, although other islands in the area would later follow.

In recent history there have been a number of border disputes between the island of Réunion and the nearby nation of Mauritius, who claimed the island as part of their nation. After Réunion's ascension into the Republic of the French Southern Territories all claims with Mauritius were dropped, and the issue was settled.

Military

Since the Relief Act the government has slowly developed a military to defend the island. The main branch of the island's military, known as the Réunion Defense Navy, was initially comprised of several small repurposed trade ships and scouting vessels, used primarily to protect the island and crack down on illegal immigration and smuggling into the island. The land force is comprised of a volunteer-based reserve, numbering a few thousand, leaving much of the work of patrolling the island to local police units.

After the island's ascension into the Republic of the French Southern Territories the island's military was incorporated into the Republic's. Defense of the island has since fallen into the hands of the Republic, who has stationed the island's initial navy in the area, backed up by a reconnaissance and communications unit on the island's coast. This is mainly to monitor communications in the area.

Politics

The island of Réunion is run by a legislative assembly, which answers to the national assembly of the Republic. The executive branch of the island is run by an elected president. The island's president is currently Didier Robert, who has been in office since his election in 2010, and is currently serving a four year term in office.