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Republic of Virginia
Timeline: 1983: Doomsday

OTL equivalent: West Virginia, Eastern portions of Virginia, the Kentucky part of the Cumberland plateau, Southeast Ohio, and the Maryland panhandle
Location of Virginia
Location of Virginia
Motto
Sic Semper Tyrannis
Capital
(and largest city)
Charleston
Other cities Beckley, Danville, Roanoke, Cumberland, Lynchburg, Hopewell, Charlottesville, Woodstock
Language
  official
 
English
  others Pennsylvania German, Spanish, French
Ethnic Groups
  main
 
Anglo-Virginian, African-Virginian
  others Native Virginian, Pennsylvania Dutch
Government Anocracy
President-General (D) William Wooton
Area 173,540 km²
Population est. 3,107,143 
Currency Virginian Dollar
Organizations American Alliance, Southern Free Trade Agreement

The Republic of Virginia is an American survivor state located in the the Appalachian and Mid-Atlantic regions of the former United States. It covers most of the former American state of West Virginia and swaths of Virginia proper, the Cumberland Plateau area covering parts of eastern Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. It is bordered by the Commonwealth of Kentucky on the west, Delmarva to the east, Blue Ridge to the south, the Toledo Confederation and North Pennsylvania to the north,

History[]

Pre-Doomsday[]

The area that would make up the Republic was the heart of the US coal country. It would at its height include most of the state of West Virginia, Southwest Virginia, the Shenandoah Valley and the Kentucky part of the Cumberland plateau. West Virginia would rise to historical prominence when it seceded from Virginia during the Civil War, renouncing the horrors of slavery in an act of fealty to the Union. West Virginia would later be the site of significant events in labor history in the late 19th and early 20th century, with coal and industrial workers securing great victories at great costs.

Outside of the modest capital of Charleston, the Cumberland Plateau's terrain made it an isolated, almost enchanted domain unto itself. This shield would be tested on that fateful day in September.

Post-Doomsday[]

Despite the pummeling of the eastern seaboard with strikes on Doomsday, the collapse of Federal authority in the continental United States was not a singular event. The only place in West Virginia targeted during Doomsday was the panhandle city of Wheeling, where the Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel manufacturing plants were located. Meanwhile, fallout from the hundreds of strikes east of the Missippi, along with that of the Great Lakes inundated parts of the area. Were it not for the terrain absorbing much of the fallout in forested valleys and pockets where few lived, almost all would have died from the sheer toxicity in the air. The state governments in the region collapsed and political control reverted to a local level.

The federal government kept order for some time around The Greenbrier Hotel and city of White Sulphur Springs. The bunker under the hotel had been intended to house the entire Congress, but the only people who managed to arrive safely were Vice President George H. W. Bush and the heads of the two houses of Congress, Tip O'Neill and Strom Thurmond, with a few other miscellaneous officials. In May 1984 the Greenbrier was evacuated. Most officials went to the Pacific or the Rockies, but a small remnant stayed behind in Charleston, the state capital, to maintain a federal presence in the Appalachians. Thurmond would be its top-ranking executive with the title of Acting President.

This administration did not last long. There was friction between Thurmond and surviving members of the Cabinet. He relied increasingly on the West Virginia National Guard and in 1986 essentially ceded power to them. A group of Cabinet members denounced Thurmond's authority and returned to the Mount Weather bunker across the border in Virginia. But they too fell into infighting and scattered to different places in the summer of 1988. The region continued to fracture. Armed leaders of local posses held power in disparate zones and valleys. The borders of their quasi-states were fluid and the politics of the entire state were chaotic - until a rogue army general from Fort Campbell arrived in the area with the 101st Airborne and seized control of the situation.

Establishment[]

Major General James E. Thompson moved the 101st into the region from along Kentucky/Tennessee region to Eastern Kentucky throughout the mid 1980s. Being first in communication with the skeleton crew at the Greenbrier, and later with the surviving personnel at Fort Knox, in truth the relative intactness of West Virginia was appealing to Thompson and the morale of his men, many of home had last their families and homes on Doomsday, everything they had known. Moving his troops from the doomed Fort Campbell environs into Cumberland, Kentucky, would see significant amount of personnel lose their lives to fallouts, enraged bands of malnourished citizens who felt betrayed by the former United States, and even various pretenders to the line of succession, the odd Senator or Cabinet member who escaped DC with the fateful few.

After taking control of the of the fallen city of Beckley on the road east from Charleston, West Virginia, Thompson set out to bring order to the region. Governor Rockefeller had left office shortly after Doomsday, with Charleston itself a ghost town, with most of its residents either living boarded up or having left for farms or cabins outside the city. Since the area had devolved into legions of small states, Thompson used a "divide and conquer" strategy to eventually finish off the last of the warlords in 1994. The 101st Airborne would soon enmesh itself with the West Virginia National Guard units that sided with Thompson to defeat the remaining warlords, along with the grounded airmen of Shepherd Field Air National Guard Base. With nearly 18,000 men still at his disposal, Charleston swelled with life with the arrival of Thompson at the helm.

Independence: One Virginia[]

It would take another two years to fully bring the area under control after the last rogue state was destroyed. Wary of what has happened to the south in Tennessee, the fledgeling Virginian government focused on establishing redundant perimeters all along the Cumberland Plateau, and leading into Charleston itself. Guerrilla attacks launched from isolated mountain valleys continued to threaten the new state Thompson was trying to build. September 6, 1989, the day the last rogue gang cell (including, surprisingly, defectors from the Army known to the 101st) was destroyed is celebrated as Victory Day in the Republic. It was also the same day that the military officials, long separated from any exterior chain of command, and growing estranged from the contingencies of Fort Knox, declared the foundation of the Republic of Virginia. The leadership of the 101st, West Virginia Army and Air National Guard, disillusioned staffers from the earlier Federal administration, along with the civilian governments of Charleston, Kentucky's Cumberland, and the eastern Virginian city of Roanoke would sign the Virginian Charter, which had been prepared by Thompson before-hand. The "President-General", as he would come to be called, would be a shaping figure of the next 2 decades of the nascent Virginian Republic.

Captured POWs from the raider states, meanwhile, were given lengthy prison sentences to serve in labor battalions tasked with rebuilding the infrastructure of the region. Throughout West Virginia, the parts of Kentucky still under 101st control, and Charleston proper, this would be a trying time, as many illnesses and deaths would occur due to the radioactive material exposure and poorer nutrition from pre-Doomsday standards beginning to catch up with people.

Jim Thompson

Thompson would go on to serve as the first President-General of Virginia until shortly before his death in 2010

Expanding East[]

Since its formative years, the Virginia Republic retained control of the entirety the West Virginia area and the Cumberland fringes of Virginia and Kentucky. As radiations wane in "East" Virginia coinciding with the shortening of the winters, they had sent scout parties to the region to assess the damage, and to find surviving "functional" communities with some semblance of industry and civilized law. They did, with the communities of Danville, Roanoke, and Lynchburg being absorbed into "West" Virginia early on. Also of note were the communities of Lexington and Woodstock. They housed the Virginia Military Institute, and Massanutten Military Academy, respectively, whose few surviving personnel would be greatly welcomed by the military-centered society burgeoning in Virginia.

The further east the Expeditions went, there were fewer people on the roads, and more skeletons. Charlottesville and the University of Virginia had seen better years. The University struggled to cling to survival in the face of the sheer sea of people fleeing from the Eastern Seaboard. The College of Agriculture had set up rudimentary farms in the early years, although there was significant crop failure. Conflicts with refugees, some of whom would displace locals in conflicts, had only further damaged the town through the mid and late 80s. Although the town now barely numbered eight thousand people - locals, former students, and refugees alike - it now stood resilient and defiant. With its bullets long run out, its sunken eyed guardsmen pointed hunter's crossbows at the approaching scouts from Virginia, although negotiations would soon lead the distrustful council of Charlottesville to realize that there was enough food and fuel to spare to rejuvenate the former town.

Relations with Toledo and Superior[]

Owing to the calm and silence that set in across much of North America in the early 90s as the climate stabilized, Virginia would continue to send out various expeditionary forces, with those in the south cementing greater relations with the other Appalachian states, while the northbound expeditions departed for comparatively uncharted territory. Considering the Virginians presence in southern Ohio, this expeditionary force would be pointed by all smaller towns in the direction of the regional hub of Toledo. With Virginians astounded to see a city of this size still intact, the two parties would soon make various agreements for coal, while the Toledoans had long-defunct factories that would be a boon to the various material needs of the gear-heavy Virginians. While in Ohio, the team ran into a similar committee from the Republic of Superior. After informing the President about their discovery, they requested the honor to visit the newly discovered nation. The cementing of relations with other organized survivors in North America led to spontaneous celebrations in Virginia. After a few years serving as the first official Virginian representatives to Superior, they departed for Virginia. Thompson soon after established an official embassy in 1993.

Although Superior would not go on to join the American Alliance, the two nations retain their own separate bilateral treaties, as well as buy and sell considerable numbers of goods from each other today. Virginian coal is a significant element to the modern metal refining economy of swathes of Superior, and mutual ally of the two in Saguenay has also considerably cemented their friendship.

2009-2012[]

Recently a new port has opened in Hopewell, East Virginia. The project started in mid 2008 when the head of a major trading firm realized although the nation was challenged with exporting by sea, it could build an auxiliary port in Hopewell for small vessels to meet with larger vessels at the Outer Banks or other neutral ports for importing complex medications and technologies that cannot be replicated in isolation. Halfway through the project the Virginian government gained interest in funding this project, granted it official government funding which was a godsend to the outlook, as it sped up the pace considerably. They completed the project on June 24, 2009. Since then the population of the town of Hopewell has swelled with the shipping company's employees, foreign sailors and their families. The opening of this new outpost signified the end of an period of Virginian expansion, until later expansions of North Carolina-successor state Blue Ridge in the south allowed it to secure its southern border all the way to the North Carolina town of Roanoke

In response to the American Spring protests, the Virginian government responded by passing bills further relaxing government control of the media. However, the Virginian President-General made a statement re-affirming that Virginia would refuse to join a nation was a pretender to the defunct union.

2022 Election[]

In 2020, discontent with the Federalist Party was clear after four terms since Thompson opening up the region to democracy. Although Sumrall's two terms from 2010 to 2018 would see a "leap" in the quality of life of Virginia, his successor,

With the death of Thompson came the fading of his cult of popularity's legacy; as the nexus of life has crept towards rising cities such as Roanoke, Charlottesville, Harper's Ferry, and the maritime exclave of "New Richmond" at the former site of Fort Powhatan, the center of population had begun to radically shift eastward -- although Charleston, one of the largest cities in the east by far and permanent capital of the reunited Virginia remains the nexus of life, the Federalist Party commands absolutely no loyalty in North-East Virginia, particularly in Charlottesville, and outright hostility in parts of Ohio, which has much more pro-American sentiments than the rest of Virginia. In an upset election that saw the death of the original Federalist Candidate, the arrest of the original leading Democrat on charges of "public indecency", and a dozen of other controversies, The Democrat William Wooton, previously a Federalist, would narrowly be elected as the fourth President of Virginia in 2022. Wooton was a National Guard veteran who had previously served as a judge on military tribunals in Ohio and West Virginia for nearly 20 years before his accession to the Supreme Court under Thompson, Wooton would also be the oldest elected president, coming in at 75 years old. Nevertheless, he would embark of a fiscally progressive agenda, expanding the welfare state while also butting heads with the other Democrats on various social policies.

WilliamWooton

William Wooton, fourth President-General of Virginia

Present Day[]

Today, Virginia is the most populous state East of the Mississippi, with over 3 million citizens, a robust industrial economy and hegemon of the American Alliance. Outposts in the former environs of Richmond and Alexandria have been developed and proposed respectively, largely as vanity projects -- one vestigal tendency inhereited from the Thompson era's love for pomp and "triumph" over the destruction of Doomsday. During the 40th anniversary of the Third World War, Virginian components would even be present on the Symphony - the first satellite launched by the Republic of Superior, IBM, the United Communities and other parties, with the name itself referring to the collaborative nature of the endeavor. Perhaps the most striking development of the last decade, however, would be the political estrangement that ensued as incoming President of Kentucky Peter Buttigieg vowed to move the nation away from its own anocratic tendencies into a more traditional liberal democracy.

The 2023 Census would also reveal a startling development - West Virginia's population had gown down in the last 10 years. The main cause was in-state migration - primarily younger couples or solitary men, moving to the previously abandoned East, particularly the south, as well as Ohio as homesteaders. Many of this migration was also caused by the military -- first by deployments, and later as veterans returning to stake out abandoned areas they had previously scoped while deployed. Thus, for the first time, more than half of Virginians live outside of the founding core of the West Virginian state. Charleston, Clarksburg and other West Virginian cities were as lively as ever, but many smaller towns began to feel the pinch of young men leaving for greener (and grayer) pastures.

Government[]

The President is voted in by only those eligible to vote 18 years of age. There is a rudimentary Congress in place, with the House of Representatives being elected directly by the people and the Senate selected by the President. The Federalist Party has dominated the platforms of most elections since the return to democracy, and recently the old Democratic Party's return has been a thorn in its side as well. Other parties, such as the Republicans, and the American Party, lag behind these two in terms of membership. For those who were not born in the areas under what is now the Virginia Republic, the citizenship requirement is two tours of duty, irrespective of gender. It should be noted that these tours of duty may not necessarily be combat positions, for many, including single mothers fleeing to Virginia with their children, they may serve as an army cook for displacement camps, a city-bound medic, or other civilian professions. During the earlier days of the military-run government, all government officials, from the President-General to the mailman, wore military-style officer uniforms. Former President-General Thompson still wears his Class A service uniform from the days of commanding the 101st Airborne.

In 2009, also after Virginia facing widespread condemnation, and Thompson's health getting worse and worse, it was planned that he would step down from office and allow a free election. He also removed the "life-long term" appointment for judges clause from the Constitution. Supporters for the old Democratic and Republican parties made sweeping advances in campaigning after moribund presence. The election took place on Halloween. Although the Democratic Party made wide upsets across swathes of Virginia, the Federalist candidate Michael H. Sumrall won, due to former President-General Thompson's endorsement. It was the first time the citizens had democratically elected its senators since before Doomsday. Most districts voted in Federalist candidates, but a sizable margin of seats in the house being filled by Democrats. Those are the seats in the periphery districts in East Virginia, and Cumberland (Kentucky) voting Democratic. However, due to the newly reformed Republican Party's controversies with public comments, they were only able to win a single district in the inaugural election.

The Supreme Court of Virginia is seated at Charleston. A 5-person court, it was fixed at this size by President-General Thompson, unlike the Federal Supreme Court of old whose size was changed as deemed fit by other branches.

SCOVirginiaRep

Exterior of the Supreme Court of Virginia. President-General Wooton has the curious distinction of previously being a Supreme Court Justice.

Economy[]

The infrastructure of the nation was repaired intensively during the military-run years, but owing to the Cumberlands expansive and rural nature, parts of the country remain reliant on dirt roads. The President-General is making improving these parts of the Virginian roadways a top priority, as it allows for further territorial expansion. Coal remains the centerpiece of Virginia's energy powerhouse economy and a major export of the nation, though the trains transporting it to other survivor communities have frequently seen "skimming off the top", thus requiring armed guards. The major importers of Virginian coal are Kentucky and Toledo, with the official roadways for shipping it being heavily guarded by the American Alliance and the United Communities. In order to combat oil supply shortages the Virginians are pursuing a combination of Ethanol and coal-produced synthetic oil.

CharlesLee

Lee Whiskey Company's Logo, based out of the former estate of the historic General Charles Lee. An iconic sight on east American shelves

Alcohol[]

The alcohol production industry in North America took a major blow when much of the nation's wheat was destroyed in Doomsday. Since the Virginian government knew how alcohol was needed to help keep the population content with the government they legalized the production, sale and consumption of corn whiskey commonly known as "Moonshine". The first official "Moonshine" distillery, the Lee Whiskey Company opened in 1999 in Leetown. Since then it has expanded into most major cities, thanks to major support from the Virginian government. It has been given an unofficial monopoly, as other whiskey companies cannot cross county or state borders without hefty and often unnecessary fees. It has 2,500 employees on its payroll nation-wide, and has made CEO William Lee one of the first true "millionaires" of the new world. Its distinctive label, featuring the historic Revolutionary War era British Virginia Charles Lee has made it the only product in the nation to have true "brand recognition".

Steel Mills[]

WSXMill

Weirton Steel Mill, critical to Virginia's attempts to keep its most critical infrastructure above water after Doomsday

In the early years, the town of Weirton's steel mill remained the only one operating past the 1980s, putting tremendous strain on the national supply. The ruined steel mills at Wheeling were recently replaced by brand-new steel mills at Brink. They had been built using convict labor and government funding as part of a move to restore Virginian infrastructure. The former ghost town quickly became populated by the employees of the mill workers and their families. Virginian unemployment levels in the area were easily cut in half by the mills opening on May 12th , 2010

Due to the Virginian military's frequent operations with the American Alliance stabilizing the roadways of the eastern seaboard, there has always been a demand for war materiel. Until the 90s the Virginian military used recycled metal from old cars and other sources. There were even jobs created to search through the old pre-Doomsday garbage dumps and junkyards to find usable metal. These "dumpster divers" (as they called themselves) risked injury and illness to get the metal. This changed when the Brink steel mills came online. Though the dumpster divers were no longer in fierce demand, they stayed in business because the Virginian government didn't want to rely on the only recently established steel mills.

Automobiles[]

Thompson Motors is a manufacturer of 4-door automobiles, trucks and buses for both military and civilian use. Encourages civilian owners to make their plain military-type car unique by painting a mural on it. In this end the company has hired a few dozen artists who offer their services for free to all owners of their civilian model.Every single "Tommy" (based on the name of the manufacturer) is a work of resourceful-ness on wheels, being equipped with a functioning small fans to combat cabin heating, an acoustic horn, high-impact lights and even a cigarette lighter port. The car's straight-laced, militaristic design is countered by the fact that most owners paint murals or use decals on it.

Originally the production of automobiles was very limited, and their use was mainly limited to government-use, scrappers and the military. The supply of metal brought to surface by scrappers and dumpster divers had allowed production to increase, although the entire process meant the final machine remained expensive in a way most couldn't dream to purchase, or justify allocating for a . However, when the Parkersburg steel mills opened, and demand on Wierton dropped, they soon became plentiful enough for the ordinary citizen to afford, if not for the fuel shortages. And as a result of Virginian experiments into alternate fuels every single car manufactured can be fueled with Ethanol. Virginia imports a good portion of the Ethanol from the Commonwealth of Kentucky, as well as gasoline from North Pennsylvania, which it synthesizes into its own blend.

Glass[]

Virginia has a modest glass industry. The old Seneca glass plants in Morgan’s Town and Star city have reopened in 2004 with the aide of Toledo. The old Brockway Glass Factory in Clarksburg has reopened in 2006 under its old name of Hazel-Atlas Glass Company.

Sports[]

The government, seeing sports as a good morale booster, has reconstructed leagues for most popular pre-Doomsday sports. However, no sport is emphasized over another. Virginians play American Football, Baseball, Basketball and Ice Hockey equally.

Americana Games[]

Virginia hosted the Americana Games, a regional version of the Summer Olympic Games. They have already started training their athletes, who are naturally taken from the military. They are also commencing construction of the venues and stadiums for the games in Charleston. The opening ceremony took place on July 4th, 2010. This was to give the participating nations a fair chance to prepare, and it was the day the United States was officially founded.

Media[]

Film Industry[]

Made at www txt2pic com

A Virginian homage to an iconic American landmark

Since Doomsday, the film industry in North America and the former United States has suffered greatly. Hollywood had been wiped off the map when Los Angeles was destroyed. However Thompson created a fledgling film studio in the small town of Beckley, West Virginia. The small amount of operating motion picture theatres were not officially required to play the films produced, but members of the 101st Airborne unofficially "persuaded" them to do so. Many of the films were directed by the President-General himself. The media in Virginia is controlled by the previously government-run Virginian Media Agency. A prime example of Virginian film is the historical epic Re-Birth Of a Nation, which chronicles the journeys of the President-General as he traveled to West Virginia, and freed the oppressed people from the evil warlords and gangsters ruling the land. They also show old-fashioned news reels, which are naturally heavily biased in Virginia's favor. This is not likely to change, even with the VMA's new civilian ownership. Due to the new Virginian Film Industry, the city of Beckley has officially become the fastest growing, if not largest, city in Virginia.

Newspapers[]

  • The Virginian Post - Publishes daily with a joint issue with The Kentucky Tribune every Sunday
  • The Kentucky Tribune - A newspaper from Kentucky that publishes Monday, Wednesday, Friday and a joint issue with The Virginian Post every Sunday
  • The Charleston Gazette - A newspaper based in the Virginian capital of Charleston

Education[]

One of the oldest universities in the New World would survive in the collapsed state of Virginia. the University of Virginia, founded by Thomas Jefferson itself, would huddle together at Charlottesville, with the bulk of its student body remaining outside of the town long after their projected "graduation dates" - today, the University is a bastion of historical artifacts on the East Coast, and a research center for the Republic. The University of West Virginia likewise survives, with in-state tuition at these universities commonly being free for those in active military service.

A large portion of the Virginian populace get their primary education while serving in the military, due to the rural dominance of the recruit demographic. In recent years there has been a call to make higher education more available to civilians, as surviving universities accepted a diminished pool of students usually from a highly pre-recommended background, or on government assignment. On January 2, 2008, the first new post-Doomsday civilian university was opened in Fort Defiance, East Virginia. Augusta University uses the facilities of the long-abandoned Augusta Military Academy.

UVA83DD

University of Virginia - flagship university of the Republic of Virginia

Health[]

The high radiation blowing in from all directions has made cancer cases extremely prevalent. So much so that the government has legalized access for voluntary euthanasia with those with a valid physical terminal condition, in a policy platform reminiscent of the Outer Lands, Plymouth and other states across the North American continent.

National Holidays[]

The Republic of Virginia officially celebrates a variety of holidays pertaining to it's cultural history and heritage before and after Doomsday.

  • January 1 - New Years Day
  • January - Lee-Jackson Day and Martin Luther King Jr. Day (Held concurrently together on Monday)
  • February 19 - Presidents Day (Dedicated specifically to pre-Doomsday Virginian Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and James Monroe)
  • March / April - Good Friday
  • April - Easter
  • May - Memorial Day (For Virginian soldiers who fought for their home state throughout the centuries from the Revolutionary War to the Civil War and the present)
  • June 19th - Juneteenth
  • September 26th - Remembrance Day
  • October 2nd - Columbus Day and Yorktown Victory Day
  • November - Thanksgiving
  • December 25th - Christmas

Congress[]

  • Federalist Party: 14 (44%)
  • Democratic Party: 14 (44%)
  • Mountain Party: 3 (9%)
  • Republican Party: 1 (3%)
VirginiaCapitolHill

The Republic of Virginia's Capitol Hill at night. With Congress in recess for the holidays, quiet falls among the town.

States[]

1983DD Virginia Territory

Virginia is divided into six states. The states are the largest political division in the country.

State Name Capital City Largest City Population Area (sq. mi.) Governor Territory
East Viginia Roanoke Roanoke 341,871 Tim Kaine (Democrat) Virginia counties of - Alleghany, Augusta, Bath, Botetourt, Buchanan, Clarke, Craig, Dickerson, Fredrick, Giles, Highland, Montgomery, Paige, Pulaski, Roanoke, Rockbridge, Rockingham, Russell, Shenandoah, Smyth, Tazewell, and Warren, Wise, and Wythe. Independent cities of - Burns Vista, Covington, Harrisonburg, Lee, Lexington, Norton, Roanoke, Salem, Scott, Staunton, Washington, Waynesboro, and Winchester
Cumberland Pikeville Ashland 530,207 9,877 Thomas Maddie (Republican) Kentucky counties of - Bell, Boyd, Breathitt, Carter, Clay, Elliot, Floyd, Greenup, Harlan, Jackson, Johnson, Knott, Knox, Laurel, Lawrence, Lee, Leslie, Letcher, Magoffin, Martin, McCreary, Morgan, Owsley, Perry, Pike, Whitley, and Wolfe
Maryland Cumberland Cumberland 65,248 1,207 William J. Holtzinger (Federalist) Maryland counties of - Allegheny, Garrett, and western and southern part of Washington (north of Hagerstown)
Ohio Athens Athens 158,321 7,344 Jay Edwards (Federalist) Ohio counties of - Athens, Belmont, Carroll, Gallia, Guernsey, Harrison, Hocking, Jackson, Jefferson, Lawrence, Meigs, Monroe, Morgan, Noble, Vinton, and Washington
Pennsylvania Waynesburg Washington 127,682 3,318 Patrick Stefano (Republican) Pennsylvania counties of - Fayette, Greene, Somerset, Washington
West Virginia Charleston Charleston 883,814 24,230 Joe Manchin (Federalist) West Virginia
Supremecourt-thumb-640xauto-3284

Virginian Supreme Court

Military[]

101st

Flag of the 101st Airborne, the elite unit of the Virginian military.

Due to the extremely violent and dangerous nature of the post-Doomsday years, the military has been enshrined in their society; soldiers enjoy positions of privilege throughout all areas of the nation, from healthcare, to housing accommodations, and even food rations after completing duty. Virginia practices mandatory conscription, requiring all residents between the ages of 18-24 range to serve at least one tour of duty (serving a second tour of duty allows you to vote). The Army also serves as a standing police force during times of peace. They personally dispense the harsh punishments for infractions, which include whippings, branding and hard labor in radioactive territory. Corporal punishment remains popular in efforts to keep a prison population, with the methods stemming from the immediate post-Doomsday difficulties of dispensing justice in times of fallout and starvation.

Air Force[]

Virginia also supports an Air Force but it receives mostly outdated equipment with the Army getting the more modern weapons. The Air Force uses old planes from the West Virginian Air National Guard. C130s form a significant portion of its air fleet, and are used for both peaceful and military purposes. In its recent expansion, a dozen or so large and heavily armed airships were constructed. These were to serve the purposes of airborne carriers, battleships and destroyers. The Air Force has also lent itself towards commercial cargo services, both for military and civilian use, with several DC-8s and other older planes making runs throughout the eastern seaboard area.

C130VA

A C130 flies through the night on a reconnaissance sweep after an unidentified crash

Airships[]

These airships are typically armed with various machine guns for low-altitude combat, mainly the Browning and the M60 are used. The ventral turret typically carries a modified Bofors 40mm cannon, but sources report that airships on patrol near the UCD border have been seen carrying 57 and 75mm recoiless rifles in the turret as well. Two forward sponsons also carry various weapons, including both the Bofors and the recoiless rifles. As these airships are of no particular class and are really just improvised, weapons, dimensions, and other measurements are only general.

Navy[]

Virginia also supports a River Navy, but it receives mostly outdated equipment with what can be scavenged along the Potomac or smaller vessels moved from lakes and rivers elsewhere. The Navy utilizes extensive use of auxillary parties, such as the Outer Banks, for reconnasaince, maps, and other know-how. However, recently the monitors have begun to be replaced or upgraded as the Virginians invest more funds into the Navy, as attempts to expand into maritime trade continue.

Mark-v-patrol-boat

A new patrol boat recently procured by the Navy

P069

A river monitor on the James.

101st Airborne[]

The 101st Airborne remains the premier unit of Virginia, only taking on the best soldiers and officers the academies have to offer. Though technically a part of the Army, in practice they act as another branch of the military answerable only to the President-General. Service in the 101st is usually desired by many young Virginian men who seek to later follow careers in politics. Besides being a heavily armed strike force, the 101st also guards the President-General and other Virginian VIPs.

Militia

101st trooper on exercise carrying m-4

Uniforms[]

The Virginian military, and society in general, takes the wearing of uniforms very seriously. However, when the Virginian military first started out they have limited funds for new uniforms. The Virginians dealt with it by supplying new troops with the navy blue Campaign Uniform reminiscent of the Civil War-era Union Army. Even after the Republic of Virginia came to prominence and materials became more plentiful, many of the Virginian soldiers found that they liked their "new" uniforms. One unnamed soldier was quoted as saying that putting on the uniform "felt like stepping into history". So the Virginian government moved to keep the Union Campaign Uniforms as the official uniform of the Virginian military. The Army wears the classic Dark Blue, the Navy wears Green, the Air Force wears Blue Jumpsuits, the 101st wears pre-war camouflage patterns and the Elite Guard wears Black. All branches of the military use plain hunting-style uniforms for training purposes only.

Some jobs in Virginia are required by law to wear a uniform at least most of the time. For years, every government employee from postal workers up to the President-General wears a uniform, although legislation passed in the 2016 year of reforms erased those restrictions.

The uniforms were originally made of plain cotton, until soldiers started complaining about how hot and itchy they were. At the beginning of the new millennium the cotton was phased out in favor of a new synthetic fiber formulated by Virginian scientists. Tests showed that the new fabric was warm during the winter, breathed well in the summer, and was much less uncomfortable than the old cotton.

Weapons[]

Each branch of the Military utilizes a form of the M14 assault rifle. The Virginians manufacture it in the old Winchester factory in Winchester, Virginia. The M16 assault rifle, M60 GPMG and various other weapons from before Doomsday remain in use. Among the Elite Guard and the 101st, however, the M-14 EBR is commonly used.

M14 carbine

M-14 Carbine

M14

A standard M-14

Mk14Mod0-1

The M-14 EBR

Mechanized[]

The vehicle pool of the Virginian Army gained a large boost in recent years. A short expedition to the military museum in Aberdeen resulted in the discovery of tanks. While most of the actual specimens were left at the site, they found the necessary schematics to reverse engineer the vehicles. When they were brought back to Virginia, Thompson put a small research team to investigate armoured vehicles. On April Fool's Day 2009, their efforts finally bore fruit. They unveiled the M4A6 Thompson Medium Tank. Looking like the miniaturized cross of a Pershing and a King Tiger, it was the first armoured vehicle designed in North America after Doomsday. Since then there have been a grand total of one dozen vehicles produced. It mainly serves as a way to impress potential allies and demoralize potential foes. In addition the army uses such vehicles as the M60A3 Patton MBT, the M1 Bradley APC and the M551 Sheridan light tank.

As small-scale warfare against various gangs continues throughout the area, a design team has recently been commissioned to improve the design of the Alvis Saladin, a British heavy armored car used during the 60's. In the spring of 2011, there was a limited production run (app. 12-16) of the improved version sometime in the spring of 2011. It featured a Carl Gustaf and 57mm recoilless rifle as a secondary armament, replacing the upper M2 Browning, as well as improved communications and a more efficient engine.

Operations[]

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Brand-new Thompson tank

In November of 2009, when representatives of Portland accepted Virginia's offer to send a military force to help them with reclaiming the state, such a force was created. The Virginian Expeditionary Force consists of almost the entire 101st Airborne, and all the Thompson tanks currently in existence. The members of the 101st assigned to guarding the President-General and all other Federal VIPs forms the backbone of the Elite Guard. These are the best of the best, though they themselves will no longer serve on the battlefield.

Law & Order[]

The government relies on draconian punishments to keep order. Minor crimes get lashes and time in the stockade, while major crimes get hangings or firing squads. This harsh system is in place to keep the region from dissolving into anarchy again. Other crimes get hard labor in radioactive terrain. The judicial system is close to the pre-Doomsday system, but has been restructured to give extremely quick trials where the accused have no representation and are immediately sentenced to lashes, hard labor or death. Due to this, crime in Virgina has gone down by 95%. However, in more recent years there have been a growing number of Trials by Jury though, understandably, there is a "three-strike" system in place. If the accused is convicted of three crimes, the sentence is automatically set to execution. This only applies to serious convictions.

International Relations[]

The Republic of Virginia is a member state of the League of Nations. Owing to its near-landlocked state, the Virginians have put tremendous effort into fuel-efficient, long-distance travel. Owing to this, the Virginians have established relations with Puerto Rico, Mexico, the Bahamas and the United States Atlantic Remnant.

Since the Virginian port of Hopewell has opened the Virginians have established relations with member states of the ADC. However, the Virginians have refused to deal with the Alpine Confederation and, owing to its "theft" of sovereign nations following the Second Sicily War, regarding the Alpine absorption of large swaths of the Italian north. The Virginians have sent an ambassador to the nation of East Britain, one Colonel Augustus Autumn. This made Virginia the first non-English state to officially recognize East Britain.

The Virginians have become increasingly close to the Kentuckians, and recent talks have laid down the foundation of an alliance between the two nation. Since the discovery of the survivor community in Portland, President-General Sumrall has made joint statement with Kentuckian President Jim Bunning supporting the city-state. He offered a military expedition to help the Portlanders reclaim the former state of Tennessee. When it was accepted, Virginian President-General Sumrall signed the bill creating it into law It has reached Portland, and has commenced re-establishing the modern utilities of the area. Regarding its stance on reunification with the United States, it has stated that it believes that the United States has passed, with a caution that without the guidance of a strong executive authority, the Torrington Union is doomed to fall into the bickering on Capitol Hill that allowed the "storm" to overtake the nation by surprise on 1983. Considering the role that first American President and Virginia-born General George Washington plays in both nation's histories, there have been statements of commonality made by various Virginian President-Generals and diplomats

The Virginians have long-established relations with Kentucky, Superior, Wisconsin, Delmarva, Vermont and the various southern city-states. The relations with Kentucky grew strong enough for them to found the American Alliance between them. The relations with the rest are mostly cordial, except for one exception. The relations with Delmarva are still quite rocky as that state still controls territory in "East" Virginia, leading to the Virginians complaining about their attempts to establish maritime presences being blocked by Delmarvans. Relations with the two neighbors, both having absorbed thousands of survivors of import from the DC area, have been improving recently, but are still quite chilly.

The Virginians are not a member of the United Communities, but cross-organizational treaties and projects have led to extensive collaboration with the Restoration Committee.

National Historic Landmarks[]

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Joe Manchin, Virginian President-General and former head of the Virginian National Register of Historic Places

The Virginian National Register of Historic Places serves the function of the old pre-Doomsday American institution of the same name. They catalog the structures and locations of historic significance. The Virginian Park Service is tasked with keeping these sites in habitable condition.

See also[]


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