Alternative History
Alternative History
Republic of Suriname
Republiek Suriname
Timeline: An Honorable Retelling
Flag of Suriname Coat of arms of Suriname
Flag Coat of arms
Capital
(and largest city)
Paramaribo
Official languages Dutch
Demonym Surinamese
Government Unitary parliamentary republic
 -  President Chan Santokhi
 -  Prime Minister Marinus Bee
Legislature National Assembly
Formation
 -  Colonisation by the Netherlands 1567 
 -  French influence 1821-1916 
 -  Independence 1916 
 -  Apartheid 1948-82 
 -  Current constitution 1984 
Population
 -  2023 estimate 14,760,000 
Currency Surinamese guilder (SRG)
Drives on the right

Suriname, officially the Republic of Suriname (Dutch: Republiek Suriname), is a country in Northern Muqaddas. Dominated by vast jungles in the south of the country, the country has a population of 14.7 million spread out over 22 districts, and is bordered by Henryland and Cosimoland to the west, Al-Bayd to the south, and Vizifold, Zenmya, Rzeka and Crainnia to the east. The country’s capital and largest city is Paramaribo.

Before European colonisation, modern Suriname was inhabited by a selection of different tribes and ethnic groups. The Pilgrim Crusades would devastate the region, as Suriname would be home to some of the Crusades’ bloodiest battles. By the 1550s, Polish adventurers had made attempts to colonise the area but failed, finding the jungles to be utterly inhospitable. In the 1570s, Dutch traders began to establish trading posts on the coast, slowly colonising and consolidating the region. By 1635 Suriname was a full fledged Dutch colony.

In 1795, the Netherlands was invaded by France and transformed into the Batavian Republic, a French client state, and Suriname would henceforth fall under heavy French influence. The discovery of precious metals in the early 19th century spurred on economic development, and the settlement of the interior districts began. By 1905 there was a significant movement for autonomy within Suriname, leading to a declaration of independence in 1916, in the midst of the Third Great War. Surinamese independence was confirmed by the New Amsterdam Peace Conference in 1922.

Suriname would be hit heavily by the Great Depression, leading to international political strife and economic ruin. The country would commit troops to GW4, however the war would serve to further divide the nation. In 1945, massive race riots broke out in the capital and many of the country’s largest cities. The next year, the entire parliament resigned, and in a subsequent election the white-dominated National Party would win a comfortable majority. Suriname at this time was still very discriminatory against blacks, but freedoms had been improving in recent years. By 1948, restrictive apartheid laws had reversed said progress, leading to breakdowns in relations with Al-Bayd and Cosimoland, who had either a majority or a large minority black population. Suriname would form alliances with Tawantinsuyu and England in the early 50s, and received large amounts of military aid during this time. Suriname would become a major benefactor of far right militias in Crainnia during the Crainnian Crisis, further antagonising relations with GTO members.

In 1963, Surinamese forces began border skirmishes on the Cosimolandic border, under the guise of “counter insurgency operations”. Throughout 1963 and 1964, the two countries would fight a low-scale conflict, before Suriname would invade in 1965, sparking the Great Muqaddian War. Initial gains in Cosimoland were reversed after a successful counterattack by Cosimolandic armor, and the front there would fall into stalemate. Meanwhile, Al-Bayd would invade in late 1965, capturing a few villages. In response, Surinamese troops invaded both Al-Bayd and Henryland, dragging the continent into conflict. International sanctions would hit Suriname hard, and detente with England would result in a further drying up of funds and military aid. By 1969 Suriname was barely able to hold its fronts, and with a lightning offensive by Cosimoland, Henryland and Al-Bayd ravaging its southern forces throughout 1970, Suriname would surrender in early 1971.

The early 70s were tough times for Suriname. International sanctions hurt their trade with other nations, the wartorn south was a ruin, and its army had been thoroughly damaged. Now isolated, Suriname looked for a solution to its woes. Neighbouring Crainnia was in the midst of a minor economic boom, having found a large reserve of gas and minerals within its territory and off its shoreline. Suriname, highly jealous of such wealth, began to rebuild with Chinese backing. By 1981, Al-Baydian intelligence had picked up on large troop formations on Crainnia’s borders. The same year, in October a full scale invasion of Crainnia began, initially catching the Crainnian armed forces by surprise, but with the arrival of Ireland into the fray, Suriname would be humiliated militarily by a joint Crainnian-Irish effort, and in June 1982 Irish tanks rolled into Paramaribo, ending Suriname’s apartheid regime and beginning a military occupation of the country. Under Irish supervision, civil rights were greatly improved, the country’s political system was reformed and a new constitution was written. Suriname underwent a boom in the 90s, opening up to foreign investment and becoming an international technology hub.

Suriname is a high-income developed country, with a booming tech sector and a high quality of life. The country is a unitary parliamentary republic, and is ranked moderately in political transparency indexes. The Surinamese economy, while very diverse, is rather reliant on its abundant natural resources, namely bauxite, gold, natural gas, nuclear fuels, and agricultural products. It is a member of the League to Enforce Peace, the Global Treaty Organisation, KISCOM, the Muqaddian Union and the Organisation for Muqaddian Cooperation. The country is highly diverse, with a significant Dutch-Surinamese minority of around 42% and a slew of various ethnic groups and tribes. Dutch is the official language of the nation and used as a lingua franca, as there are countless other languages within the nation.