Marressaly

Confederation of Marressaly Marriscondrotg
Flag Coat of arms
Motto: Liver, Souranno, Indipendant Free, sovereign, independent
Location of  Marressaly  (dark green) – in Anterra  (green & grey) – in Western Artemia  (green)
Capital	Rotaburg
Largest largest city	Bativa
Official languages	Marriscalh (English: Marressalic)
Recognised regional languages	Meric Artemsch Austrasian Gothic Tari Gardic
Ethnic groups (2021)	76.7% Marressaly citizens 23.3% Foreign citizens
Demonym	Marressalic Marre Marriscalh Marris
Government	Federal semi-direct democracy under an assembly-independent directorial republic
• Executive Council	Messenio Cassis (President) Vibenia Docilus (Vice President) Volusena Fadus Munia Berset Nico Mullis Hugo Joneli Ila Hämig
• Executive Chancellor	Martina Turtschi
Legislature	Marressaly Confederal Assembly
• Upper house	Council of Provinces
• Lower house	Council of Commons
Establishment
• First Confederation	1252
• Second Confederation	1777
• Third Confederation	1842
Area
• Total	330,627.5 km2 (127,656.0 sq mi)
• Water (%)	0.37
Population
• 2023 census	68,252,451
• Density	206.5/km2 (534.8/sq mi)
GDP (PPP)	2023 estimate
• Total	$3,746 billion
• Per capita	$54,895
Gini (2019)	34.6 medium
HDI (2019)	0.951 very high
Currency	Marriscalh Escutt (€)
Calling code	+181
Internet TLD	.ma

Marressaly is a coastal country located in Central-Western Artemia. Marressaly is a Federal semi-direct democracy under an assembly-independent directorial republic which contains a population of over 42.6 million people. The majority of Marressaly citizens live urban lifestyles along major inland urban centres with the largest settlement and capital being Rotaburg in the Confederal Administrative province. Marressaly encompasses 472,325 km².

Modern-day Marressaly is bordered to the North by Ostboland, to the North-east by Gardarike, to the South-East by Cidéledo, to the south by the Eurybian Sea, to the west by Mero-curgovina and North-west by E-Tarin. Its geography is dominated by hills, mountains and highlands which cover over two thirds of the country’s total land area. Much of the Marressaly population resides in land spread across major settlements. Humans have inhabited in the regions that are modern-day Marressaly since the BLANK.

Marressaly ranks high on the Human Development Index, and has a developed upper middle income economy. The Marressalic economy is primarily composed of developing tertiary sectors as the number of skilled workers increases, however primary and secondary sectors such as mineral extraction and refinement, fossil fuel extraction, logistics, defense and civilian manufacturing are still contributors to the nation’s economy. The country has a rapidly growing ICT and Electronics sector which has generated competitive wages compared to other states in the region and is projected to become a dominant sector of the Marressalic economy.

Etymology

The name "Marriscondrotg" is the result of a government program to ratify a new national endonym to formalise the Federalisation of the nation, this was done alongside the construction of Rotaburg and the founding of the Third Confederation. The name is derived from the native demonym "Marriscalh" and the native word for country/land "Condrotg" meaning "Country of the Marriscalh" or the literal translation "Marris County". Prior to "Marriscondrotg", the term Marriscalh had been the formally adopted endonym as of the Basic Laws of 1779 further distancing the name from its origins.

The name "Marriscalh" itself is known to be a derivative of the Old Geudic exonym "Marhazskalkaz" first recorded in formal native use in 1167 during the inception of the concept of a unified Marressalic nationality. The Old Geudic name "Marhazskalkaz" itself is taken from the words "Marhaz" (English: Mare, Horse) and "skalkaz" (English: Servant). This combination is recorded to have spawned in primitive forms sometime during the migration of the Marressalic horse clans westward from what is now modern day Gardarike into what is now regarded as Western Artemia which displaced the Geudic people leading to the then derogatory term "Marhazskalkaz" or "Horse Servants".

The Old Geudic exonym "Marhazskalkaz" evolved locally, becoming "Marhishalcas" in a Marressalic adaptation recorded in a literary excerpt from 1252 during the founding of the First Confederation. These predecessor terms had existed in literature and politics through the various era of Marre history, but were never formally ratified in law as the national endonym; instead continuing to evolve as the local language changed. The endonym by the time of the ratification of the Basic Civil Laws in 1779 had evolved to the modern "Marriscalh" which has remained unchanged to present day.

History

Antiquity and Pre-history

Migration period and expulsion of Geudic people

• As the clans migrated west the they displaced the geudic people.

Gantsonnae Imperial Era (300 BCE - 476CE)

See more: Gantsonnae Empire

The Gantsonnae (300 BCE)

• Formation of the Gantsonnae - a loose confederation of the early marre clans in various forms, no real collective endonym existed at this point it was just a collection of clans all of different names but all originating from the original marre migration period and thus sharing culture and language with different local dialects and cultural subtlety. Existed as a cultural-defensive pact across the various clans against proto-geudic and proto-gardic incursions.
• Etymology:

"Gantsonnae" or the Companionate (a confederacy of companions/comrades)

-proto-germanic ganautaz (companion/comrade) + suffix -atjaną or -ōną, becoming Ganatsjana/Ganatsona, becoming Gantsonn or Gantsonna

Imperial ambitions (109 BCE)

• The Ganstonnae at this point encompasses all of modern Marre, parts of modern Mero-curgovina and has begun to march into modern Gereland. Imperial ambitions are at an all time high with goals of conquering modern Cidelo and pushing eastward along southern artemia.

Conquering of Heltia (?? BCE)

• The conquering of Cidelo leads to the eventual goal of targeting "The land beyond us" (etymology of Heltia) which referred to modern day seratof and velo. At this point the name Marhazskalkaz is beginning to appear in geudic literature in Western Artemia.

Imperial Collapse (476 CE)

Gantsonnae implodes, core marre states begin infighting and seperating

Era of Turmoil (477 - 1252)

Gardic Occupation (1052 - 1145)

• Gardic empire occupies eastern Marre regions, eventually ends with the collapse of the Gardic empire.

Concept of a unified Marhazskalkaz nationality (1167)

• Collapse of the Gardic empire after a series of rebellions and uprisings in Marre regions spawns the concept of a unified Marressaly nationality, one that accepts the differences of each clan while adopting an overarching nationality. This is likely where Marressaly begins to adopt the geudic exonym, Marhazskalkaz derived from marhaz (English: Mare, Horse) and skalkaz (English: Servant), as a means to reference to all marre people.

First confederation (1252 - 1525)

See more: First Marressaly Confederation

Confederation of Marhishalcas People (1252)

• Collection of various dukes and kings from various clans that had become kingdoms overtime. Agreed to become a pseudo-confederation.
• Informal adoption of the Marre exonym, it has by this point warped into a name fitting of the local language, Marhishalcas, rather than a direct loan word/name from Geudic.

Ties to a new Gardarike (1254)

• Founding of a solidified confederal trade route via the West-East Artemian mountain pass. Solidification of infrastructure between the two states

Marre - Luwardan War (1440)

• Luwardan Despotate attempts to forcefully retake ancient imperial regions, one of many territorial squabbles however it is the biggest and last one resulting in the total collapse of the Luwardan Despotate. What started as a defensive war, rapidly deteriorated into genocide. The conflict is often taught in Marre as a purely defensive conflict however international history books and classes teach the complete picture and exposes the true accounts from the era.
• Dorina of Ila. Evil jeanne d'arc, captured and burned at the stake during a counter attack. Believed by locals to be a demon due to genocidal tendencies but domestically believe to be a defender of Marriscalh independence, her capture and burning at the stake inspired her followers to capture and roast Cideledi knights alive in their armour.
• Dorina operated with a loyal all female leadership staff all of which became equally as radical overtime.
• Historical accounts of major rivers turning red as radicalised Marre troops began engaging in pillaging of Luwardan cities, things only got worse after the death of Dorina as her follower went mad for revenge, eventually leading to the total collapse of Luwardan as a despotate with various cities breaking off independently out of fear of continued Marre retaliation for her death.
• In modern day, the conflict and Dorina is a point of massive historical, cultural and political debate with statues commemorating the conflict and Dorina as a saint are internationally considered improper and offensive.

Maritime Era (1525 - 1759)

Growth of maritime trade and influence

• Eurybian claims begin forming as Marre begins shifting towards maritime trade through the Eurybian and immediately surrounding regions, led to the creation of a economic colonialist policy and the creation of a Eurybian silk road.

Revolutionary Era and the Second Confederation (1760 - 1842)

See more: Second Marressaly Confederation

Marriscalh Revolution (1774)

Popular rebellion ousting the nobility of the various clans and kingdoms after a period of depression due to a string of poor confederal decisions. Also tied to the industrial revolution and ever decreasing living conditions as uncontrolled industrialisation blows through the country, many of these industrialists are tied to nobility and were equally as hated and persecuted during the revolution.

A period of strife with many parties pulling on eachother in different directions but with a common goal of ousting the nobility and creating a free and independent state disregarding noble ties to other nations where the peoples will is sovereign and forming a democratic republic.

Founding of Democracy and the Second Confederation (1777)

• The name Marriscalh at this point was the informally adopted continued adaptation of Marhishalcas/Marhazskalkaz.

Establishment of the Basic Civil Laws (1779)

• Introduced a series of basic civil rights and responsibilities, spawned out of the Industrial Revolution and early crackdown on labour exploitation as Marressaly began to shift towards machined work. Included basic political rights, the foundations of democracy in Marre and laws and limitations that confederal members cannot contradict in their local laws.
• The name Marriscalh is at this point ratified in law.

Luddite movement and legalisation of Labour Unions (1819)

Unions are now allowed, certain union activites are still restricted and they have no legal recognition, they're simply allowed to exist.

Third Confederation (1842 - 1914)

See more: Third Marressaly Confederation

Federalisation and the Third Confederation (1842)

• Introduction of a neutral ground (rotaburg, de jure administrative capital)
• Introduction of a new national endonym Marriscondrotg, derived from the evolved local demonym Marriscalh (Marhazskalkaz -> Marhishalcas -> Marriscalh) and the Marressalic word for country/land condrotg (contra -> contrata -> condrotg) translating literally to Marris Country or Country of the Marriscalh.
• Expansion of the Basic Civil Laws into the Federal Treaty and the formalisation of a Federal State.

Second Industrial Revolution (1868-1914)

Continued machination of industry led to the snow balling of the industrial revolution again, new labour exploits began to appear

Expansion of workers rights (1873)

• Solidified by a civilian shipyard and its workers, a labour union formed to fight for shorter work days, minimum pay rates and other workers rights. Resulted in an initial protest by Marressalic dock workers, but after requests to government were ignored resulted in one major dock barricading itself shut with armed dock workers which lead to a stand off with police and government military forces.
• Unions receive authoritative legal recognition in Trades Union Act of 1873 - Unions now had a legal authoritative basis to negotiate conditions between employee and employer, this power extends into the courts.
  • An addition to the basic civil rights covering loopholes and further popular demands since the introduction of the Basic Civil Laws of 1779.

Eurybian tensions (1864 - 1879)

• Early Marre - Tiperyn concerns, diplomatic incidents
• Early Marre - Merand diplomatic incidents
• Both caused by clashes in spheres of influence within the Eurybian establishing a pre-tense for future war.

Marre - Merand War (1880 - 1882)

• Ends in a loss resulting in the rise of ultranationalism and national populist ideologies, grudges held against Mero-curgovina. Loss of territory. Result of long standing naval disputes over the last 10-20 years. Resulted in the destruction of several key Marre Eurybian ports.

Era of Reform (1883 - 1914)

• Political diversification and the growth of radical parties: Saw labour unions enter a true political status
• Looking outward once more, economic expansion and solidification of the logistics of Marressaly Economics: Looking outward towards Kesh establishment of trade with Kodeshia and the beginnings of larger scale economic and strategic plans with aims to return Marre to the Eurybian Economic power it was before the Second Confederation, Saw a massive growth in Marressaly economic power
• Military reform and a renewed arms race, introduction of national redoubt for fortification programs as signs of war begin showing through.
• Formation of the first Marre riflemans union (beginnings of the provincial militia). Several more would appear across the provinces, initially a sports and recreation union but many began to offer support to the military with branches slowly turning into a paramilitary organisation leading into the grand campaigns.

Grand Campaigns (1915 - 1925)

See more: Grand Campaigns

Invasion of Mero-Curgovina

• Perfect opportunity to retake land lost in the 1880-1882 Marre-Merand War and inflict damage to the Merand Artemia-Eurybian presence, its ultimately successful but costly.

Eurybian Front

• Marre experiences first hand how easy it is to be blockaded into the Eurybian if unprepared after major naval battles with Tiperyn and their allies squeezed Marre shipping lanes.

Interwar period (1926 - 1948)

Reconstruction and the Blood and Iron pact (1926)

• Pact with Gardarike to assist in post-GC reconstruction and re-establishment of stable regional industry/economics in order to revitalise Marre-Gardic trade, assisted in market controls for oil and iron.
• Saw a move by the military to integrate the Marressaly riflemans union as a legal government asset, several provinces began to introduce unique legal basis for their existence beyond sport shooting and recreation. Governments seeking to introduce a low commitment lower paid reserve option outside the military active reserve that would reinforce the military during war time.

National Populism in the Military and the Artemian Syndicalist Insurgency (1927 - 1940)

• Syndicalist Insurgency
• Interwar period brought out fringe political groups now with military training and renewed drive due to the condition Marre was in post war.
• Saw the rise of National Populist factions and increased right wing movements in the military, while the general public tied to labour unions shifted left with fringe syndicalist groups tied to the Artemian Anarchist Federation (AAF) entering the underground political stage.

• This period saw periodic violence from the AAF and a right wing hard line response from the military, periodic bombings, kidnappings, police and military raids. Saw the establishment of one of the first counter-terror units in Anterra in the Marre Gendarme.
• Marressaly riflemans unions federate, establishing a shared forum and administrative structure across provinces in 1931 using newly gained political legal rights.
• Military would make efforts at a government level to attempt to integrate the rifles union into the defense command structure and remove the independently elected civilian heads of the rifles unions, this would be met with political resistance by the labour unions in the late 1930s

Dealings in Kesh (1927 - 1939)

• Supporting Guo regime during Kodeshi civil war, re-establishment and solidification of Kodeshi trade post-Grand Campaigns
• Establishment of ties with Akiteiwa in order to attempt to secure the Eurybian - Tethys shipping routes open and begin to cut down Tiperyn influence in the Eurybian
• Renewal of Trans-Eurybian claims, early signs of another Marre - tiperyn conflict in the Eurybian.

Intervention of the Mero-Curgov civil war (1940)

• Syndicalist coup attempt met by National Populist counter coupe by fringe groups in the gendarme, resulted in gunfights breaking out in the streets of the Marre capital between the Syndicalists, National Populists and Marre government forces that reinforced riflemans union personnel, saw the disassembly and decentralisation of the gendarme, arrests made against several key gendarme political figures, and controls against political extremism, saw the disassembly of two labour unions and the arrest of their leadership after they were found to have ties to the Syndicalist coups.
  • Ultranationalist factions were found to be tied to funding coming from ultranationalist Mero-curgovina
  • Saw the formalisation of the Marressaly Provincial Militia as a paramilitary group independent of the department of defense and general military command structure, with the defense force losing its bid to integrate the original riflemens union into the general military command structure. This was done as an anti-coup force and as a low commitment defense entity where people could continue to support in the defense of the nation after their conscription period while retaining a relatively normal civilian lifestyle during peacetime. This move gave the militias a renewed political and legal basis particularly regarding equipment procurement, with some provincial militias acquiring armoured vehicles with funding provided by local provincial governments.
    • Saw the introductions of barriers of entry to Militia leadership, retained popular election processes but now requiring a minimum level of training and experience before any given person is permitted to run as a candidate.
    • Saw the integration of several civil services into the militia, with police reforms after the disassembly of the Gendarme resulting in the Civil Guard (Crisis response, fire fighters etc), Police Militia (Ground patrol, reactive policing filling the role of the Gendarme) being components of the provincial militia as more active components.
    • Saw the formation of the Civil police, an administrative, pro-active investigative police branch focused on forensics, investigation and pro-active policing aiming to establish knowledge bases on organised crime and terror cells with the aim of preventing crime and terrorism before it escalates rather than reacting to crime and terrorism.
• Tiperyn naval spats throughout the conflict
• Starts with major airborne offensive solidifying Marre's airborne doctrine

Great Kesh War (1949 - 1959)

See more: Great Kesh War

Marre-Tiperyn escalation (1950)

See more: Marre - Tiperyn Eurybian Conflict

• Tied to Tiperyn actions in northern Kesh through the Eurybian immediately preceding the main conflict on Kesh. Gradual escalation in the Eurybian resulted in an all out naval conflict shortly before the Great Kesh War begins.

Involvement in Kesh

• "Dirty Dozen" Airforce Mercenaries and their role in Kesh
• Supporting Theykan Volunteers was the primary role served, running CAS roles.
• Ex-Marressaly Airforce pilots turned mercenaries after the end of the Mero-Curgov civil war, turned into a commercial entity with Marressaly government sanction.

Modern History (1959 - Present)

Introduction of the Nuclear Age

• Introduced the Artemian Nuclear Energy Committee with prevalence of nuclear power.

The Perses crisis (1974)

See more: Perses Crisis

The Perses Crisis was a 15-day undeclared war between Marressaly and Tiperyn starting on the 4th of February 1974 and ending on the 19th of February of 1974 over the divided Perses Island Chain in the Eurybian Sea. The Perses crisis was an escalation of Marressaly - Tiperyn Eurybian disputes in a region that had been relatively at peace since the 1500s but due to geopolitical tensions across the 20th century had placed the chain at the forefront of Eurybian power projection leading to the Tiperyn launched invasion onto the Marressaly administered islands of the Perses Island Chain. It is regarded as the result of several decades of clashes and disputes between Marressaly and Tiperyn that had reignited as a result of a series of naval battles concurrent with the Great Kesh War two decades prior.

ETAFOR and participation in the e-Tarin Civil War

See more: Tarini Civil War

• Started as covert material support for republican and democratic factions
• Early intervention and the no-fly zone
• Troop deployment into e-Tarin and the formation of ETAFOR
• Reconstruction of e-Tarin and economic investments
• Post-war Marre - Veikaian tension and re-direction of continental military strategy towards a future land conflict between E-Tarin and Veikaia.

Geography

Northern Marressaly highlands

Marressaly is located along the Eurybian in Central-Western Artemia encompassing a total landmass of 472,325 km2. It is bounded to the north by Ostboland, to the North-east by Gardarike, to the East by BLANK, to the south by the Eurybian Sea, to the west by Mero-curgovina and North-west by E-Tarin. Its borders Gardarike are established by the eastern mountain range, forming a basin with the central Marressaly alps. Marressaly’s other borders were established by treaty and local agreements rather than natural features and limitations. Marressaly’s position along the Eurybian allows direct access to Kesh through relatively short-range shipping routes and has opened the nation to trade globally.

Approximately two thirds of Marressaly is made up of mountains, highlands and high elevation hills which has resulted in a large portion of the population moving south into the flatter coastal regions harbouring some of Marressaly’s largest settlements, including the largest city, Bativa residing along the warm south-east Eurybian coast of Marressaly and is home to Marressaly’s largest seaport NAME, and civilian shipyard NAME. However, the nation’s administrative district and capital city reside far inland within the central basin, the city was constructed as a means to provide a central, protected neutral ground between the provinces early in the confederations life and remains the de jure capital of the nation.

City of Emona along the rocky Southern Marressaly coast, known for its maritime era coastal fortifications that have been maintained and repaired as Marressaly heritage sites.

Marrressaly can be divided into four approximate geographical zones, the nations north, east, centre and southern coast. The north is largely encompassed by cold steppe highlands with regions sitting over 900 metres above sea level, the region experiences extremely cold winter periods and is often exposed to high levels of snowfall throughout the winter period. Eastern Marressaly is made up of a major mountain range that runs north-south dividing Western and Central Artemia, it contains a mixture of alpine and cold steppe climates with heavily wooded regions surrounding the mountains and is one of the least populated regions of Marressaly due to relatively unfriendly terrain. The central region, often referred to as the Central Marressaly Basin, is encompassed by a humid continental lower altitude hilly region that tapers upwards towards a highland that divides the nation east-west, it sits lower than the northern highlands and tapers off into the warmer, lower elevation southern coast. The southern coast itself is largely a flat coastal plain tapering off from the central highlands into hills then flattening out as it approaches the coast, it experiences a mixture of humid continental climates inland and a warm Eurybian climate along the coast. Large portions of the coast however still sit well above sea level and are often rocky with beaches concentrating along major river mouths and the far southern tip of Marressaly.

Climate

Largely humid continental hilly basin, however northern and eastern regions where cold steppes and alpine regions reside temperatures are relatively low year round with extremely cold snowy winters. Further south along the coast a warmer Eurybian climate is present.

Demographics

Population

As of 2020 the Marressaly has a total population of 46.8 million. Marressaly has a national population density at 99.3 people per square kilometres. It has a slow growing population with a 0.6% annual change as of 2020, and a relatively high life expectancy with males expecting live up 82.5 years and females living 83.5 years.

Marressaly has a growing immigrant population, largely from other Artemian nations which make up 23.3% of the national population. This is a result of the relaxing of Marressaly's stringent immigration policies which previously did not grant foreigners born within Marressaly citizenship, unless they are born to at least one Marressalic parent. Gaining citizenship in Marressaly is a long process with foreigners having to live within Marressaly for a minimum uninterrupted period of 10 years and must complete a two year integration program in which they are taught the Marressaly language, customs and traditions which are seen as essential for successful integration into society. Historically, harsh citizenship processes have limited Marressaly's growth through immigration and only as of 1989 has population growth by permanent immigration gained traction as a result of policies which fast track immigration applications if they fit areas of the economy that lack experience or staff, or are industries that the government is actively seeking to expand. Additional benefits have been introduced since 1989 such as small monetary incentives and tax breaks for a limited number of sought after professions.

Major Cities

See more: Provinces of Marressaly

Marressaly holds a higher than average urbanisation rate with 83% of the Marressaly population residing within the cities. This is largely a result of the difficult geography which covers parts of the nation, this has caused most cities to be concentrated in the flatter southern Marressaly with few major towns being constructed amongst the mountain ranges of northern and eastern Marressaly.

Language

See more: Marriscalh

International influence and political programs

Marre government since 1525 has targeted soft power internationally through economic and cultural means in the Eurybian, these efforts were revitalized in 1883 during the Era of Reform post Marre - Merand War with and outward focus on on reconstructing and expanding the Marre sphere of Influence in the Eurybian back to its peak in 1700s.

The process involved both economic and social programs, namely a push to expand the Marriscalh language sphere of influence across Artemia and Kesh, particularly in the immediate Eurybian region but the efforts would eventually grow to Avalonia in an effort to undermine Tipsrek in the region, the program saw the construction of Marre sister schools in overseas locations which began teaching Marriscalh as a second language. The goal being to establish Marriscalh as one of the major trade languages of Anterra.

Education

See more: Marressaly Education System

The education sector in Marressaly is made up by a majority of federally owned and funded public schools with very few private institutions even at tertiary education level. Children study until the age of 18, all curriculum is decided by a federal education authority and is the mandatory standard for education across Marressaly with grade scales dictated and standardised at a federal level to remove discrepancies between schools. As a result of post graduate military service requirements for all Marressalic citizens, curriculum includes small introductory courses to the armed forces which commence in a students' 10th year of study. These courses often include introductions to firearms safety and maintenance, military history and other topics that will assist in their post graduate service period.

Marressaly sits amongst some of the most educated nations on Anterra, with a total of 73.9% of the population having completed an education qualification of any kind, 54.9% of which have completed a form of post secondary tertiary education after their Secondary Education Qualification and 45% have sought non-tertiary forms of post secondary education. Schooling typically lasts 13 years and is compulsory in some form or another for Marressalic citizens and residents with students required to complete schooling up to at minimum Year 11 before transitioning to alternate education solutions such trade schools for plumbing, construction and other labour based positions.

In the final year of schooling in Marressaly (Year 12) students choose two work sectors they are interested in and are given pre-chosen subjects based on those sectors which expands their general knowledge of different positions and work types within any given area of work and assists their transition to tertiary education by teaching them what to expect out of their chosen areas. Upon completion of their final students sit several exams based on their subjects which produces a final aggregate score which is used for entry into tertiary education institutions, with different courses having different entry pre-requisites, students do not have to choose courses within the two work areas they chose at the beginning of their final year however.

While most students are expected to graduate and transfer to a military academy to complete the compulsory service period with the Marressalic Armed Forces, it is possible to opt to defer service in favour of completing tertiary if the course is present on a service exemptions list updated yearly by the Marressalic government. The exemptions can delay the compulsory service period until after completing tertiary education if the course they wish to partake in benefits them during the compulsory service period, or completely bypass the compulsory service period if the course chosen leads to careers which the Marressalic government states are lacking personnel.

For tertiary level studies, the Marressalic government offers government indexed loans covering all education related costs to citizens in order to pay for any course of choice. Citizens are only expected to begin paying their government loans after they have graduated, have entered the workforce and reach a set minimum pay.

Politics

Administrative Divisions

Marressaly is divided into 28 administrative divisions operating under the Confederal Assembly. This includes 21 CLANS (Anglic lit.: Clan) and 7 HALF-CLANS (Anglic lit.: Split/half clan). The CLANS derive from the old monarchist confederal government divisions which can be traced back to paleolithic era Marressalic CLANS, which over time merged and evolved beyond the typical kin-group tribal establishments. HALF-CLANS were introduced after the unification of the Marressalic clans and are typically CLANS who have split or lost territory and were typically classified as a lesser CLANS, in modern applications they are CLANS below a set population.

The CLANS are de jure federated states, and have permanent government status with high levels of independence. Under the Confederal Assembly the CLANS are all equal in status, except that HALF-CLANS have half representation in the CLAN-HEAD Assembly (One CLAN-HEAD instead of two) and only have half a vote in Federal CLAN referendums. Each CLAN follows a directorial system and are able to have their own constitution, parliament, government, police and courts. They also have varying populations, geographical areas and at times recognised languages.

Structure

The basis of modern politics within Marressaly is a democraticised model of Marressaly's old monarchic confederation system adopted in 1777 which shifted from an enlightened non-elected confederation of clans to a secular elected confederation with semi-direct democracy, deposing the monarchy in the process. It does not feature a codified constitution and is built upon a series of basic laws which were established by the Confederal Assembly in 1779, covering basic individual rights and the political division of power across the Confederal Assembly. There are three primary bodies at the federal level: the bicameral Confederal Assembly (legislative), Executive Council (executive) and the Popular Court (judicial).

The Confederal Assembly consists of two houses: the Council of States which consists of two representatives (Marressalic: CLAN-HEAD, Anglic Lit.:Senior Clansperson) from each CLAN and one from each HALF-CLAN who are elected on a per-CLAN basis, and the Council of Commons, which are elected under a system of proportional representation, dependent on the population of a given CLAN. Members of both houses can only serve for 3 year terms and they only serve as members of the Confederal Assembly part-time. Both the upper and lower house have representative speakers that mediate and preside over debates and discussions that occur within either body, while the Executive Council utilises an Executive Chancellor to fulfil a similar role. The Executive Council is a collection of elected representatives that act as a collective head of state, voting and selection of members for the Executive Council is carried out only within the Confederal Assembly, the selected Executive Chancellor holds no vote amongst the Executive Council but can participate in discussions unlike the representatives in the upper and lower houses who hold no voting power, nor means of discussion. Through referendum, citizens are able to challenge any law passed by the Confederal Assembly and introduce amendments to the basic laws.

Law and Justice

In the past laws and law enforcement varied greatly by province however overtime the confederation began to agree on and establish universal standards that all constituents must adhere to such as the ground work for police forces. All departments may legally arrest each other in order to combat police corruption in all departments, police departments may also arrest confederal military personnel to combat corruption within the military.

General functionality:

Con-federal office of Police co-ordinates

Civil police investigates

Provincial Militia Police arrests

Policing

Civil Police

See more: Civil Police (Marressaly)

Administrative investigative department at its core, in charge of criminal investigation, organised crime, provincial counter terror investigation etc generally pro-active force. Play a role in domestic counter-terror investigation, intervention and prevention. Communicate inter-province via the central bureau of investigation. Civil police typically hire high performing police militia personnel, allowing opportunities to become detectives. Formed in the mid-1940s after major policing reforms in Marressaly alongside the provincial police militia, caused by an attempted ultranationalist coup by the gendarme coinciding with the Mero-curgov civil war.

Ununiformed force and generally undercover force, some limited patrol capability. Collaborate with police militia for pro-active police raids, counter-terror operations.

Con-federal office of Police

See more: Con-federal Office of Police

Introduced in 1950s ish after crime wave related to drug trade and chain of successful bank robberies across internal state lines. Introduced shortly after the civil police to carry out investigations and apprehend suspects who cross country and provincial lines to evade law enforcement. Also used in the deepstate covertly to smuggle weapons and other things internationally to non-state actors through a mafia front. A means to enable inter-police force communication. Federal level institution, in recent years has been pushing for the federalisation of civil police and the merger of civil police with the confederal office of police and allow free reign on policing nationally but has been pushed back at every attempt by provinces due to jurisdictional disputes.

Publicly had no ground force presence and is entirely an administrative branch, however has led several covert operations through an informal mafia front in the past, in 1998 a covert federal policing and counter terrorism response group was formally introduced ignoring jurisdictional disputes, unit was not known to exist by civil or provincial police until 2001 and not publicly known until 2019. Has been the source of great controversy across governments with the legality of the unit being questioned and audited on several occasions, multiple attempts to dismantle the unit have occurred since its public reveal however it has continued to operate and played a role in counter-terrorism operations during the Tarini Civil War period.

Is the front for collaboration with international police services.

Provincial Militia Police

See more: Marressalic Provincial Militia

On the ground, reactive security and patrols. Sub-branches exist such as the Highway police militia which doubles as an inter-province guard handling highway checkpoints between and within provinces (weigh bridges, investigative points for freight, random province border checks etc). Typically legally limited to handguns as a peacetime enforcement department, active as a light infantry unit attached to local provincial militia units in wartime. common to find an inter-branch rivalry between the civil police and police militia.

Armed crime response teams exist across the various police militias and these teams have unique legal basis for more heavily armed police response, doubling up as provincial reactive counter terror groups. BOPE equivalent in the capital province, controversial because it has been caught in one occasion illegally ignoring provincial jurisdiction during counter terror response, most heavily militarised police unit and longest standing counter terror and armed crime response unit dating back to the artemian syndicalist insurgency.

Formed in the mid-1940s after units of the active reserve run gendarme attempted an ultranationalist coup coinciding with the intervention into the Mero-curgov civil war which resulted in the dismantling of the gendarme as a branch of the active reserve.

Special Police Units

See more: Marressalic Special Police Units

Vary region by region sub-divisions of civil police and sub-divisions of the Provincial Militia (some may be additional independent departments). Inclusive of Touristic Police tasked with the guarding of tourist attractions and high volume touristic locations such as heritage sites, city squares, they receive additional training in order to assist tourists with information and guidance they are entirely unarmed. However there is internal pressure to arm the touristic police to double as a terror response unit at tourist locations.

Defense

See more: Marressalic Defense Organisation

The Marressaly Armed Forces (Marressalic: -) is made up of a combination of the of land (Marressalic: -), sea (Marressalic: -) and air forces (Marressalic: -) and is the acting military force of the Marressaly. The Marressalic military is primarily tasked with the defense of Marressaly and its long term territorial integrity however it maintains several overseas deployments, also opting to participate in joint training and peacekeeping operations internationally as a means to continually improve the nations defense capabilities and expertise. Marressaly has utilised various levels of conscription as a means to bolster its pool of reserve forces since the early 20th century, as of 2001 only one in six eligible citizens are required to serve in the active reserve for one year, however all citizens are expected to undergo basic training at the age of 18 and are part of the inactive components of the provincial militia. Its forces currently number 592,581 personnel across three main branches (reserve personnel included). The military is influential in Marressaly economics and politics and is exempt from laws that apply in other sectors, granting it considerable power and independence within the state built on its prestige, however since the early 2010's the civilian administration has introduced moves to cut back on the military’s political influence and potentially abolish conscription entirely.

The Armed Forces are overseen by the Directory of Defense who are the high level administrative component of the Marressaly Armed Forces which itself utilises a shared power structure between high ranking military officials and representatives of the Confederal Assembly and Executive Council. It handles procurement, human resources, enlistment and other roles pertaining to the Armed Forces. The Directory of Defense maintains a permanent headquarters in Rotaburg. As a result of the military’s high level of political influence and independence it is often regarded as part of Marressaly’s “deep state”.

General functionality:

Marresssalic Defense Organisation handles administration between Confederal Office of Defense and Confederal Assembly of Provincial Militia

Confederal office of Defense - Handles the various active branches of the Marre armed forces, including active reserve

Confederal assembly of Provincial Militia - Handles communication and co-ordination between the various provincial militia

Note:

Possibly turn confederal militia into a federation of rifles unions

Conscription, reservists and the Provincial Militias

See more: Provincial Militia

In order to maintain war time readiness, Marressaly has maintained a mandatory conscription policy for all adults between the ages of 18 to 45 years old for a period of 24 months for those not attending tertiary education or 12 months for those registered to attend tertiary education. The service period for conscripted personnel begins one month after their 18th birthday and occurs prior to any form of tertiary education, with some tertiary education courses being exempt from the active service period. Upon completing conscripted active reserve service, citizens remain on a reservist list until the age of 45 and are placed in their closest Provincial Militia unit unless they opt to stay in the active reserve.

The active reserve is legislatively considered three seperate sub-branches of the army, navy and airforce rather than one collective entity. It serves to fill a high commitment reserve position in the Marressaly armed forces and is only compulsory for a period of 24 months, continued service in the active reserve is voluntary. The active reserve is intended to support the armed forces by providing a fill-in force that can be organically added or integrated into existing active units during wartime and is intended as a rapid mobilisation force. The active reserve in peacetime fills several roles such as, border security and patrol and facility/infrastructure protection and other guard roles across Marressaly. Historically, the active reserve used to preside over a gendarme force however during the Mero-Curgov civil war a string of political events resulted in the dismantling of the gendarme and the formation of a Provincial Police Militia system.

In addition to the main armed forces the Marressaly Provincial Militia (Marressalic: -) operates as a national low commitment territorial defense force and is an effectively independent force with its own command structure operating alongside Marressaly army serving to bolster the Marressaly Armed Forces in the event of war, the Provincial Militias report to their local provincial command which communicate through a federal level militia assembly. The Provincial Militia is entirely made of reservist and conscripted personnel who are all subject to basic training which can occur during active service or during their conscripted service period before being placed within the home guard unit for their local militia unit typically within their town of residence. All militia personnel undergo yearly training refreshes typically lasting between two to six weeks depending on role. Leadership within the Provincial Militia is almost exclusively made up of reservist officers or officer cadets who are currently attending the Rotaburg Military Academy in Rotaburg, some of which will go into active service others will remain in the reservist force and only mobilised in the event of war or national catastrophe. The regulations of the Marressaly militia system allow soldiers to maintain their own personal equipment, including weapons (not including ammunition), within their household or in a regional unit armoury in order to allow rapid mobilisation, a system which has been put to use in the past in situations where the Marressaly Provincial Militia was partially mobilised pre-emptively due to fears of regional instability and conflict affecting Marressaly.

The provincial militia also contains several underlying institutions such as the Civil Guard, an emergency response institution, that can be called on during times of nation crises with various units being trained in search and rescue, flood response and other humanitarian activities they also are, in several provinces, the primary local firefighting force and the Police Militia introduced in the mid 1940's as a high commitment active component of the provincial militia and acts in present day as the Marressaly provinces primary police force.

The provincial militia originates from rifles unions.

Domestic Arms Industry

See more: List of Marressaly Defense Contractors

Marressaly maintains an extensive and well-developed defense industry as a means to fulfill its defense requirements without a large reliance on foreign manufacturers and defense contractors thus allowing it to maintain its policy of military non-alignment.

The domestic arms industry operates under the Defense Materiel Administration a branch of the Directory of Defense, which co-ordinates the efforts of various state owned manufacturing and design workshops across all branches of the armed forces across the country. The Defense Materiel Administration handles the assignment of procurement tender, design competitions and other internal procurement and design processes through direct co-ordination with the armed forces through the Directory of Defense. This allows the armed forces to place requests for equipment through the Directory of Defense without impeding, extending or complicating the design process as the Defense Materiel Administration handles the technical and costing aspects of procurement.

The Marressaly defense industry has extensive history, with some defense contractors having been in business for over 300 years. As of 1976 the Marressaly defense industry began to diversify by partially privatising its defense contractors which attracted foreign investment from various nations. This as a result has allowed Marressaly's defense contractors to access a larger financial base, increased availability of resources and also opening the Marressaly defense industry to a wider export market through the relaxation of export controls on Marressaly weaponry and military equipment.

Private Security Industry

As a result of the two reserve forces being present within the Marressaly armed forces, various prominent private security contractors have formed out of low commitment provincial militia units utilising their active reserve conscript training and yearly refreshes to maintain a trained private security force while often obtaining pay rates beyond those offered in the active reserve or even active armed forces. The modern Private Security Industry in Marressaly dates back to the Dirty Dozen, a collection of airforce mercenaries that partook in the Great Kesh War, later becoming major combat flight instructors going on to train several international airforces on post-kesh air warfare using their wartime experience.

This has overall led to an active private security sector both in civilian and military applications, domestically and internationally with several notable companies partaking in peacekeeping and humanitarian contracts abroad.

Economy

The Marressaly economy is a middling and stable economy when ranked internationally. The Marressalic economy, like many others, is largely driven by its services sector accounting for 64.7% of its GDP in comparison to manufacturing which only accounts for 25.1% and agriculture sitting at just under 1.6%. Marressaly maintains an export-based economy based on its services sector such as financial services as well as its industrial sector which produces raw materials and various manufactured goods, but also features other economic sectors such as textiles and alcohol production. The nation as of 2020 has a gross domestic product (PPP) of $2,751 billion. Marressaly is a high-income country due to a gross national income (PPP) per capita of $58,698 - Marressaly has a growing middle class due to continued state investments in high-skill vocational education and critical infrastructure, as well as the expansion of technology based industries such as electronics design and information technology sectors supplementing the increases to the production and import of consumer goods. Over the past 10 years, Marressaly's real gross domestic production growth has averaged at 2.67%.

Marressaly also has a small but changing modern agrarian economic sector, featuring advancing hydroponics techniques and the adoption of urban vertical farming which has sparked a move towards the abandonment of conventional cattle farming and the experimentation with lab-grown meats. Its growing agricultural industry produces various agricultural goods including cereals, vegetables, and cattle, sheep, swine, and poultry. Timber is also a large export in Marressaly and as of 2001 has been gathered in a more sustainable manner with the introduction of replantation laws. Furthermore, the mineral extraction and refinement industry exports various minerals such as lignite, iron, coal and silver as well as steel and various metal alloys. The resource extraction fuels the small Marressalic industrial base and manufacturing sectors.

Marressaly plays a major role in global logistical services, being the birthplace of palletised and standardised cargo transportation and distribution as well as commercial forklifts, later becoming the founder of the Artemo-Eurybian Logistics Standards Organisation which established local logistics standards, and eventually expanding globally. Marressaly to this day retains some of the worlds largest material handling equipment pools and corporations.

Infrastructure

Transport

Road Infrastructure

Three ring roads (name them like train lines, green, blue etc) no speed limit, they connect all municipal capitals. Federal controlled and funded toll roads.

Tax breaks for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles and fully electric vehicles. Carbon tax on vehicles with low fuel efficiency and high emissions.

Inner city roads overtime made unfriendly towards cars and more protective of pedestrians and cyclists, bus lanes converted to electric trams and trains.

Rail Infrastructure

Extensive high speed rail connections and lines, resulted in the banning of short range domestic flights. Civilian ownership of private jets banned, federally, use is limited to government personnel in government owned aircraft for emergencies.

Controls on long haul truckborne freight services with focus placed on use of large cargo trains domestically instead, with freight lines running seperate to civil lines. In an attempt to decrease truck traffic.

Culture

Sports

Automotive

One of the larger sporting industries in Marre, 24hr @ Le-Man race equivalent and various GT series competitions.