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Republic of Wisconsin
Timeline: 1983: Doomsday
Flag Coat of Arms
Flag Coat of Arms
Location of Wisconsin
Location of Wisconsin
Motto
Forward
Capital Madison
Largest city Madison
Other cities Rauk, Prairie du Chien, Fond du Lac, Racine, Janesville, La Crosse, Sparta
Language English
President Mark Ruffalo
Vice President Steve Knebel
Area 5,292 mi²
Population 399,243 
Independence 2001
Currency Superior dollar, Buffalo Dollar

The Republic of Wisconsin is an American nation in the former US state of Wisconsin, established after the Republic of Superior intervened in the city of Madison in 2001. It borders Dubuque to the south, North Star Republic to the west, and Superior across the abandoned half of the state to the north. Established from a failed state in the capital Madison, it has emerged as a left-wing, strict-but-safe environment for refugees from all of Wisconsin. From its genesis as a city-state propped up by the Superior military, and plagued with corruption and supply shortages, it now finds itself as a fast growing democracy which has grown to occupy most of the southern half of the former state.

With a burgeoning presence of neo-American settlers to the west, and ever-growing Superior to the East, it finds itself at a crossroads regarding pro-American and pro-Superior sentiments, with voices for an independent Wisconsin increasingly facing hostility.

History[]

Pre-Doomsday[]

Wisconsin was a manufacturing based economy, along with agriculture. As state capitol, it was the nexus of much of the state's political and commercial activity. The commercial industry was big business in the cities of Milwaukee and Madison. It was also considered to be the home of America's best cheese. Tourism and the arts had also been fledgling industries, but all of this came to a screeching halt on Doomsday.

Doomsday[]

Compared to other states, Wisconsin was not hit as hard, receiving a legitimate chance at recovery. However, nuclear strikes would have a negative effect. Milwaukee was struck with a 1MT missile, as was Duluth, Minnesota, which destroyed the city of Superior across the river. Much of Wisconsin fell into anarchy, and Madison was no different.

Originally, the capital city of Madison managed to hold onto most of the state, outside of the southeast quarter and subsequent "Death Zone" that would form around the 15 mile radius of the melted Zion nuclear plant in North Chicago, swallowing all the way up to Kenosha. US Army at Fort McCoy in the center of the state would do their best to keep emergency services running during the largescale blackouts of 1983 wrought on by hundreds of airbursts and a purposeful EMP blast over the Plains. Spotty contact westward told tales of other state capitals surviving, including Lincoln, Nebraska and both Dakotan capitals, and contact was even made with the all-too-lucky governor of Missouri, now taking shelter in Hannibal. During the spring and summer of 1984, for as atrocious as the situation seemed to many, many in these capital cities such as Madison felt like they were waiting any minute for the "government" to put these remaining pieces back together. However, by 1986, most realized the normal they sought would never come to pass, with the Lakotah War soon silencing these westward voices to the horror of Wisconsin.

Mutiny, Bridges Burned[]

Soon enough, Wisconsin, or rather what was left of the interior answering the Madison, found itself alone. Other than some towns across the river in Iowa, there was nobody coming in from the east, from the south, or from the north. As the martial law continued, many workers who had been coerced into working the fields after the fuel ran out began to tire of their arduous hours. Why should they work from sunrise to sundown, for "ration coupons" of their very own crops no less, when the soldiers and politicians got to sit in the shade? This phenomena was not new to Wisconsin, but was erupting all across what was left of the Plains. The surviving airmen at Volk Field would try its hardest to keep this peace, but when rebelling towns began to blow bridges along the Wisconsin River in the dead of night, it quickly became a losing battle. By the end of the 1990, there was not a single bridge left accessible within a few days walk from Madison other than the local-controlled Praire du Chen bridge at the extreme west of the state, effectively cutting the state north and west of Madison off from the rest, with some parts never returning again to Wisconsin control. The soldiers of Fort McCoy were never heard from again. One alleged survivor would go on to publish a book simply titled "McCoy" under a pen name, although the details of its fall were so morose (even by Doomsday standards) some have doubted its authenticity on those grounds alone.

With this crippling wave of violence and unrest, the bloodlust reached its peak, and abated as quickly as it began. What was left to the state officials at Wisconsin was the immediate areas of Iowa, Green, Greenlake-Columbia, Jefferson, and Rock counties, but when about 350,000 people began to become dependent on an agricultural area that produced enough food for 50,000 people, starvation and chaos ensued. One by one, the communications grid began to fall into disarray, entire areas would become barren of life, and those areas that did survive fell into barbaric conditions until eventually the State of Wisconsin controlled only Dane and Iowa counties. In these areas, martial law was declared, food rations were placed in effect, and able-bodied citizens were often forced into the vigorous task of producing food in previously-vacated towns.

Contact with Superior[]

Also see: History of Superior

In the coming years, the conditions within the area would soon deteriorate even faster, leaving a population of 90,000 in Madison by the end of the century. Civil war and gang riots also did little to help the area. Eventually, the Republic of Superior intervened, establishing peace in the area in weeks. This action was viewed as a laying the pavement for the "Republic of Wisconsin", which, in its nascent stage was essentially a city-state composed of the capital city of the former state, Madison.

A Tale of Two Rivers[]

After several years, the growing republic began to see shortages of food as a growing problem. This was mainly a result of a growing population of people who had come from other less stable areas. The Wisconsin nation felt it was time to expand further. By 2012 it had reannexed the remainder of the territory south of the Wisconsin river, with the Madisonians deciding to take Prairie du Chen by force in order to pressure all hostile settlements to the north to the peace table. The only two terms of the Republic of Madison were that 1) all attacks on convoys must cease, permanently, and 2) trade with Wisconsin must be done in "hard currency", be that Quad City Dollars, Buffalos, or Superior Dollars. The logic of this second condition was it would force northern Wisconsin back into participating in the "real" economy and away from stealing and bartering, even if the areas had more "civilizing" to do.

With the annexation of Prairie du Chen, Wisconsin gained both a land border with the friendly QCA area of Dubuque, as well as a permanent deep water harbor along the Mississippi, with "national" trade doubling the next 5 years.

To the North, To the South[]

In 2013, Superior helped map the entire area from its own borders to the "Chicago Dead Zone" - Milwaukee included - to see if any form of uncontacted, organized settlements still existed along the eastern half of the state. Their efforts initially seemed to be in vain, until functioning settlements of Janesville, Racine and Fond du Lac were contacted. Talks were immediately started, and in 2014, the communities agreed to join Wisconsin and accept aid from Superior. Since then, the areas have thrived.`

The annexation of the city of Janesville in particular would bring a startling find that only the older generation could recall - the GM Manufacturing Plant was still intact, if a bit run down. The Janesville plant was the oldest General Motors plant in North America prior to Doomsday. It assembled light-duty trucks and sport utility vehicles, and various components. Wisconsin and Superior would spend years cleaning out the plant, repairing it, until finally in 2019 the factory sent out its first 500 cars. Today, the plant once again produces tractors - a much needed and sorely missed tool of the American farmer who had to rely on manual labor in the years since Doomsday. It also produces a pre-Doomsday clone of Chevrolet Cavaliers called the Revere, with recent commercials featuring a modernized reenactment of Paul Revere driving the vehicle. Commercials themselves being a surprising return in a nation once again hooked to its television, with Wisconsin Census officials estimating over 200,000 households have service again as of 2022.

Fond-du-Lac-Photo-1

Lakeside town of Fond du Lac, now the southern border with Superior

1024px-Janesville GM Assembly Plant exterior (3550720936)

The Janesville Plant Today under the reformed GM.

Jvilleabandoned

The Janesville plant as it was found in 2013 after almost 3 decades of looting and abandonment

40 Years Later[]

Since rebuilding the undamaged Milwaukee satellite city of Racine and kenosha, the area is now a fortified outpost manned by the United Communities Restoration Committee, Superior and Wisconsin troops, the last stop before the "Chicago Dead Zone". The people of Wisconsin now have two active ports on the Great Lakes, lights all along the Wisconsin River, and Prairie Du Chen along along the mighty Mississippi. It gained two new towns of Sparta and La Crosse in the Treaty of Fargo along with Fort Mccoy. It also gained a border with the North Star Republic to its west, It has to be seen if they are open to diplomatic relations and trade.

Economy[]

The economy of Wisconsin is primarily controlled by industry and cattle farming, with its cheese becoming an exotic import for niche foreiegn markets still interested in domestic American culture. It is also considered to be the "banking capital of the Mid-West" as many Superior banks relocated to Madison in recent years, leading to widespread adoption of the Superior Dollar.

Besides Janesville's aforementioned boon in vehicle production under the new GM, the rebuilding of Racine and further expeditions into the remains of Milwaukee means that heavy industry has resumed, along with the production of Wisconsin’s famous beer. The Racine-North Kenosha area has produced a great variety of products in particular, ranging from power transmission systems for boats and automobiles, More major employers in the region include the revitalized Case Corporation(tractors), Harley-Davidson(motorcycles), Briggs & Stratton (gardening equipment) and Northwestern Mutual (life insurance, a popular post-Doomsday plan for families).

Breweries[]

Wisconsin's most famous pre-Doomsday export besides cheese was by far its beer. This wonderful export has once again put it on the map in the modern economy. Having previously grown to become one of the largest brewers in the United States by the mid-1980s, the state is once again producing brands such as Miller, Old Style, Colt 45, and others. Survivors in the area still produced local batches from the know-how of aged former employees, who returned to brew the first post-Doomsday batches in 2018. The same year, the brewing of Miller beer began again in Madison.

Sports[]

Wisconsin participates in the NAFL, the successor to the NFL, as the Wisconsin Badgers. Their home ground is Camp Randall Stadium. The teams games with the Green Bay Packers, now of the Republic of Superior, draw crowds reminiscent of the pre-Doomsday state.

Culture[]

Culturally, Wisconsin is very much like the rest of the surviving Midwest. The state has a unique history of progressivism in the context of railway and factory laborers, being home to the first elected socialists in North American history. While electoral partisan politics was an unprecedent sight until the 2020s pro-NAU and pro-Superior voting blocs, Superior is definitely a democratic and pro-union nation. It is home to the last historical archives in the region, the Wisconsin Historical Society, which houses thousands of films, vinyl records, and otherwise all pre-Doomsday American culture. Local historians and CRUSA supporters hope to use this collection to help educate the younger generations on the world they lost.

Military[]

Being a former state capital, Madison was home to a rather large detachment of the Wisconsin National Guard. The 64th Troop Command provides administrative, training and logistical support to localized militias that are not part of other major deployable units. With an authorized strength of more than 1,700 Soldiers, the command includes aviation, sustainment and support, personnel, military police, band, transportation, maintenance, public affairs, rear area operations command, and medical units. Additionally, the First Home Militia of Madison which is based out of the capital augments their immediate strength by an addition 1,300 men.

There were two surviving Air National Guard institutions in Wisconsin, the closest to Madison being Truax Air Base in adjacent Dane County. EMP generated from nearby blasts crippled most of the surviving airplanes (with erratic exceptions), but Superior helped restore several of the aircraft, also taking some for their own air force in the process. The F-4 Phantom II was a twin-engine fighter jet that was widely used by the United States Air Force and Navy in the 1960s and 1970s. The 120th Fighter Interceptor Group also left behind several F-106 Delta Dart interceptor aircraft in 1983.

In 2023, the nation regained Fort McCoy, the former headquarters of the Wisconsin National Guard and a former base for the US Army. Though Superoir toke most of the equipment, the Miltias in Sparta and La Crosse have kept some of the equipment and remain 2,000 strong with 4 armored vehicle too. This has caused many to fear that this group may want to restore the former independent statice of the cities.

International Relations[]

Wisconsin is a member of the United Communities, and has opened a dialogue with the North American Union. That being said, Superior is an inextricable part of daily Wisconsin life. The children eat Superior cereals and watch Superior shows, the adults work for Superior banks, and the elderly are cared for by Superior doctors. With local sentiments, especially those outside of Madison, having grown increasingly towards the NAU/United States in recent years, there remains an equally large opposed faction in favor of deeper integration and possibly union with Superior, especially among those grateful (and old enough to remember) Superior for re-establishing a society from a city that has almost entirely collapsed into anarchy.



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