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| Capital (and largest city) |
Kunming | ||||||
| Ethnic Groups main |
Han | ||||||
| others | Yi, Bai, Hani | ||||||
| Demonym | Yunnanese | ||||||
| Government | Constitutional Republic | ||||||
| Premier: | |||||||
| Chairman of the House: | |||||||
| Population | 35,084,300 (estimate - including territories) | ||||||
| Established | June 2010 | ||||||
| Independence | from People's Republic of China | ||||||
| declared | 15th September, 1988 | ||||||
| Currency | Yuan | ||||||
History
Post-Doomsday
In the immediate aftermath of Doomsday, China was left disorganized, as key military installations and crucial cities were hit by the Soviet Union. Although not directly hit, panic and looting quickly began to take its toll and the province of Yunnan descended into chaos. Fu Quanyou, the deputy commander of the Yunnan Military District, also started raiding the local areas, especially Tibet, as they had proclaimed their own state. Angered by their proclamation and needing supplies, he attacked the newly created state in March, 1985.
The war would last longer than anyone had expected, as the Tibetans showed a resilience most unanticipated by the attackers. The fighting would last three years and Fu would need a base from which he could continue leading the campaign, as well as recruit other men and material. Thus, he turned south, to Yunnan province.
He went straight for the former capital of the decaying province, Kunming, and took it over with minimal losses, as leftover people were eking out a miserable existence. Kunming would serve as the main base of the army for the next two years of fighting, until finally, the state of Tibet was recognized as a sovereign entity and protection by Fu's forces was agreed upon. This help was nominal at best, as Fu wanted to expand his own influence in Yunnan. Proclaiming the People's Republic of Yunnan on September 15th, 1988. With the supplies given to him by Tibet, and the forced labour of "his" people, Fu formed the nucleus of his future state.
Expansion
As auther into other areas of the former province. During this period, many more Chinese people would flee the harsh prosecution of the central government. Most of the areas farther away from Kunming were nominally under the control of the PRY and basically fended for themselves while the government took half of everything produced. They did, however, invest in industry and major public work programs were enacted to employ and feed the population.
Contact with Myanmar and Vietnam was infrequent during much of the nineties, more because of unwillingness to co-operate with these regimes than anything else. Border patrols remained frequent and relentlessness. Although citizens were being treated badly, through careful propaganda and the inability of leaving the country through legal means, the country was kept in check.
During this period, contact was established with Guangxi as well. The government tried to persuade the country to integrate with Yunnan and was quite surprised when they declined. They would pursue their claims for nearly two years until they broke off all ties to the government in Guangxi in 1994. No contact had been attempted until Fu died, although some elements in the government were in favor of it, as they are trying to get as many nations as they can into their long standing, undeclared war against Siberia.
Death of a Nation
Through Indochina, the PRY learned much of the outside world and it was pretty much what the leadership had expected it to be after a nuclear war. It was surprised though by reports that the Soviet Union had survived through the Union of Sovereign Socialist Republics. Both angry and appalled by their land-grab in northern China, the PRY unilaterally declared war on the USSR in 2002.
This was met by little to no response from Siberia or its allies, due to the fact that Yunnan was both too far away and because there was no real gain to be had. The PRY refused to enter the LoN or any other international organization and warned other nations not to violate China's sovereignty. Its people began to grow more restless as even the central government began to prove unable in stemming the tide of information about the current condition of the world.
In this period of time, the nation's leader, Fu Quanyou began to grow ill. It is unsure why or how he became ill, but from the time he grew ill until his death, the people around him noticed a significant difference in him. He seemed changed somehow. This suspicion would go on to be confirmed when he ordered the army to expand not only area of direct control Yunnan had, but to also begin expanding the nation's influence to outside that of Yunnan's current sphere.
To some, these actions seemed compassionate but to others it seemed like the leader had become disillusioned by visions of grandeur. Quanyou also ordered the opening of Yunnan's market to Vietnam to be able to earn as much money as the nation could. This would be invested in the industrial sector, ironically providing it with a boost. Much of it would also go to the Army which was conducting the operations to expand the area of influence and bring various villages and towns into Yunnan's fold. Many believe that this opening up to Vietnam gave a large proportion of the nation the chance to learn about the ideas of democracy and begin to plan a change of government in a similar fashion as to what happened in Vietnam.
The nation in this short period took control of almost all of its previous areas of influence and began to directly control the lands, removing any previous leaders of surviving townships and villages. To ensure connectivity, road construction was increased and significantly sped up so controlling the new regions could be easier. The army put in place harsh measures and although the people got more out of being directly controlled from Yunnan, the quality of life remained abysmal. Ideas of freedom spread like wildfire in these oppressive conditions, even though most people did not hold much hope for such ideas.
But things changed. Fu Quanyou passed away in 2004 in his sleep, with people mourning the loss of the nation's leader. It was this point in the nation's history which would change everything.
War for Democracy
See main article: Yunnanese Civil War
Flag of Yunnan before the Revolution
Fu's generals began to take control of the government after his death. They continued to expand the borders of the nation, but placed huge strain on the economy and on the people, making them vastly more unpopular than the previous government ever had been. They did this by pursuing huge industrial expansion projects which made life worse than it had ever been under Fu, not to mention the fact that by the end of Fu's life it was getting slightly better for people to live in Yunnan itself. Resorting to almost slave labour, the generals exploited the resources of the state to try to expand the industrial base too quickly and too much. This did not go down with the people at all. Whispers of "freedom" and "democracy" began to spread into organised plans for change. The people were tired of being ruled over by a harsh hand, with no say in how the nation ran or which areas were integrated into the nation, with no right on how to run their own or their families lives.
Most of the support for change came from the newly controlled areas of Yunnan. These areas were not used to such harsh conditions - even though they lived a largely solitary life in their small communities and were often subject to raiding. People took up arms, along with hundreds of army men who had not been paid or those who saw the plight of the people and decided to help them in their cause for a better life. These rebels declared "Free Yunnan" to be independent of the control of the PRY. Almost immediately, the generals sent troops to quell the revolt in its opening stages. What would follow would be bloody battles which would almost destroy the rebels and lead to a loss of morale in those who supported the rebellion. However, when the PRY forces brutally burned numerous villages full of innocent people, anger flared once more and the revolt was revitalised.
All over the nation, people took up arms, fighting the soldier still loyal to the current government. Thousands by now had defected to the revolt and campaign after campaign saw the rebels head closer to Kunming. Government troops lost the will to fight and many surrendered as the rebels came close to the city in mid-2009. However, here they would face their biggest challenge. Troops protecting the city were loyal to the government and willing to die for the cause. In the opening stages of the Battle for Kunming, both sides would lose huge numbers of soldiers as firefights got bloodier in every engagement.
However, progress was being made. The loyalist troops were pushed back by the numbers and the will of the rebels. The loyalists made their last stand in central Kunming. It would take days of heavy fighting, but the rebels would break through and force the surrender of many remaining soldiers. The ruling generals would be arrested, tried for their crimes and executed swiftly.
Rebirth of a People
Citizens from all corners of Yunnan would come together to write a fair and just constitution for the people of the nation in May 2010. The civil war had been bloody and hard-fought but in the end the rebels triumphed and decided it was time to set a path for the nation. The constitution would give equal rights to every citizen of the nation, male or female, Han or Yi and ensure every citizen past the age of 18 got the opportunity to vote and have a say in how the nation was run.
Restrictions on media such as radio transmissions and the publication of newspapers were lifted with the declaration of media being independently controlled. This gave the people of the nation to convey their own feelings and opinions of events occurring in Yunnan. This would prove to be a major step in giving the country a respectable image in front of the world. The previously government-owned newspaper Times of Yunnan would see a rapid change in writing style as it went on to become one of the most progressive newspapers within the country, with the harsh censoring finally being lifted.
From here onward, the nation and its people would work hard to transform the nation into what it is today. Roads would be rebuilt, towns destroyed would be reconstructed and factories would be upgraded and restarted. The nation would begin to adopt a policy of open trading with its neighbours to bring in the necessary funds for the nation. Formal alliances would be sent out to both Guanxi and Vietnam in the hope that a new era of peace could begin for all three nations in 2011.
By early 2011, parties would rapidly form and in September, election for electing MPs to the nation's parliament as well as the first democratically elected Premier would take place. The major political forces were the Socialists, naturally left-leaning, the Republicans (quite right-leaning) and the Populists. It was no surprise then, that the Populists with favourable policies for the people came out on top in the election, with a landslide victory. The party almost immediately looked to expand contact with its neighbours and began to send diplomatic missions to other countries of the region to help it become recognised as well as to pass on the information that the nation was now a democratic and open country.
Responses were generally favourable, but many were unsure of this "new" Yunnan, as they had been of the Vietnamese initially. However, the nation soon found a powerful friend through Vietnam - the Commonwealth of Australia and New Zealand. The ANZC were willing to invest in the Yunnanese economy like they had done for Vietnam, and soon people began to view the nation favourably. Not only did this help support the industry which was falling into disrepair - even though a large amount of trading with Vietnam, then Guanxi, had helped create enough revenue to renovate a significant amount of them - it also helped to create new industry and help expand the industrial base of the nation. This helped to create jobs and once more the lure of the major towns began to attract people who returned to work in the factories.
Negotiations
Following the contact with the ANZC, Yunnan entered a period of negotiations. First of all, it began diplomatic talks with Vietnam to sort out border issues present between both nations. Talks went smoothly for the most part, and within three months an agreed border treaty was signed by both nations. This helped reduce any tensions the Vietnamese and Yunnanese had following the creation of the Republic of Yunnan.
Yunnan was also facing a huge strain on its economy trying to support all the new lands under under the control of the central government. As a result, Yunnan began to employ an ingenious tactic in not only helping regions develop, but also reducing the strain on their economy. Areas under direct and nominal control of Yunnan were split up into two distinct types of control. Yunnan proper was the region of Yunnan controlled directly by the central government and split up into provinces for easier control of the region as well as to ensure proper governance of the nation. Meanwhile, the regions which were proving to be a heavy strain - which were mainly the newly acquired territories - were given the term of Territories of Yunnan and were essentially vassals of Yunnan. These vassals would have many of the same rights the main provinces within Yunnan would have, but on many points their relation with the central government would differ. The territories were allowed to vote and could elect representatives to the main Parliament in Kunming. However, the territories did not have to pay taxes. They territories would receive funding from the central government, but instead of taxes, the central government would get a direct cut of the profits made by the industries of the territories. This deal was worked out to be a solution to the problem of having to spend too much on the under-developed region - as less money could now be spend on the regions while more on the provinces of the nation. Although the move was met with some criticism within the new territories - it gained large support in the provinces.
The nation also sent ambassadors to meet with the Taiwanese Republic of China, and were surprised to see how well they had fared Doomsday (relations will need to be looked into). As well as this, ambassadors were also send to Hubei - or the National People's Republic of China, and they were surprised to see that the region had become very backward. They soon opened negotiations with the nation to try to help it out, but also to expand its influence as, if Hubei agreed to side with Yunnan, they would be able to have more influence within the other nations of China as well as gain more states to perhaps combat raiders from the east - who often attacked supply routes.
Government
The country was run by a one-party socialist government, consisting mostly of veterans from Fu's original forces. Although mostly following the PRC's old model of the constitution, there was never an official constitution drafted for the state, so Quanyou's rule was absolute. If he passed away, there was no clear line of succession within the state, which ended up proving problematic. Following Fu's death, his generals took over from him but did not do an adequate job - inspiring rebellion within the people.
Following the civil war, an Interim government was placed in charge of the nation until a democratic constitution was written and the first elections took place. The writing of the constitution went without a hitch and with unanimous support. The interim government passed the constitution as the official constitution of the Republic of Yunnan. With the priorities taken care of, the interim government soon announced that parties shall now be able to form and announced a date for the elections. Almost immediately, the nuclei of three parties could be seen forming and these would soon grow and become official parties in the nation. The Socialists, the Republicans and the Populists became the major parties of the nation. Each began campaigning in earnest. The first elections took place on the 26th of September, 2008.
Military
There are around 400,000 men and women in active service within the military. Most troops used to be conscripted into the army, yet the soldiers are now given a choice whether to stay on and become part of the active armed forces or not after they complete 2 years of the draft - which begins when they are 19. The former 10,000 soldiers which used to be Fu's personal bodyguards were re-assigned as the Specialist soldiers of the country. These are the elite and the best of the best in terms of ability and strength. There are also around 800,000 reservists the nation maintains and these are called upon when needed.
There is a small air force which maintains several helicopters, and recently having acquired enough fuel from its many trade partners - has begun to fly them in routine missions over the regions of chaos within former China.
The country, being a landlocked nation, has no navy.
Standard army weaponry includes the Type 56 assault rifle and the Type 54 sidearm, although the Type 81 rifle, which received limited deployment by 1983, completely replaced the Type 56 in 2011, a year ahead of schedule. The Type 56s are now kept for reservist soldiers and for export to Yunnanese allies in need of weapons to protect themselves from raiders.
Economy
Yunnan's four pillar industries include tobacco, agriculture/biology, mining, and tourism. The main manufacturing industries are iron and steel production and copper-smelting. It also produces lead, zinc, tin and aluminium. Although remarkably in good order, Yunnan's industry has started to stagnate in recent years, as with no foreign investors or trading partners, most plants are being shut down, with most people moving into agriculture or the service sector instead.
International Relations
The country had strained relations with the rest of the world community and maintains almost complete autonomy. Some trade has been allowed with its neighbours in Indochina, however, and more and more goods are being traded for industrial products and ore from the PRY. It has come into contact with both Nanchung and the Dragon State on one of its exploratory missions. A firefight broke out and contact has been at a minimum from then on.
Current Situation
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