Istalia

[Polites]

Separatists Unite
January 5031



Faced with suppression at the hands of the military dictatorship and banking on growing popular support, the two main separatist movements, the Movement for the Independence of Quanzar and the Alarian Bloc, have finally joined forces and established a united separatist party, the Movement for the Independence of Quanzar and Alaria. As the sole effective democratic opposition to the junta, the Movement has called for not only the peaceful secession of the two halves of the country, but also the resignation of Generalissimo Tommaso Tivoli and his military government, the organization of free and fair elections, the disbandment of the junta's political vehicle, the Istalian Salvation Front, reparations for the victims of the dictatorship's oppression, and a fair and democratic economic system based on the Seko model.



Democratic activist Dumìnicu Accorsi, a lifelong campaigner for the recognition of his native Trivenditan "dialect" of Istalian as a distinct language, has been elected the leader of the independence movement. Due to government repression his current whereabouts are unknown, although he did release a number of public statements challenging the junta and demanding their immediate resignation. Given the growing popularity of the opposition, it is likely that the military dictatorship will either heed his call and organize democratic elections, or else risk a civil war in seeking to destroy the opposition.

[Polites]

Fall of Istalia
June 5032



The military dictatorship led by Generalissimo Tommaso Tivoli that had ruled Istalia since 5004 has finally collapsed. Faced with widespread dissent, protests, and riots, the military dictatorship decided to avoid bloodshed, which would have likely resulted in a civil war, and instead chose to resign and organize democratic elections, which took place in April this year. The democratic opposition, led by the separatist Movement for the Independence of Quanzar and Alaria, has won the elections by a landslide, and its leader, Quanzar independence advocate Dumìnicu Accorsi, has been sworn in as the new President of the Republic he aims to overthrow. Separatist candidates and political parties have won the regional elections in all five Regions of Istalia as well as a comfortable majority in the National Assembly of the Republic. Although a military caretaker government remains in power while the transition takes place, the separatist opposition has now practically taken over the country.



And the independentists were not slow to implement their agenda. The regional assemblies of the three regions on the Sarrentina Peninsula have organized, with the approval of the National Assembly, a referendum for the independence of the peninsula under a new republic to be known as Quanzar. Unsurprisingly, in spite of the relatively low turnout, the separatist vote narrowly won, and a provisional government of the new republic promptly proclaimed the independence of the "Community of Quanzar". The proclamation is currently being voted on in the National Assembly, where, in spite of the overall separatist majority, there are doubts such a bill, which would spell the end of Istalia, would pass. To assuage these concerns, the leaders of the Quanzar movement have guaranteed that, if the independence of Quanzar is recognized, the new nation would seek to reunify with the island of Alaria under a new federal arrangement. Under these provisions it is more likely that the independence of Quanzar would be recognized while keeping the borders of the state once known as Istalia intact.

[Polites]

Rise of Quanzar
July 5033



After the Sarrentina Peninsula proclaimed its independence as the Community of Quanzar, an act which was recognized by the National Assembly in February this year, Istalia was wholly reduced just to the island of Alaria. With the leadership of Istalia still in the hands of Quanzarists and Alarianists, the National Assembly voted to rename the Istalian Republic as the Alarian Republic, thus proclaiming the independence of Alaria.

However, the current majority enjoyed by the separatist parties in the two newly independent states is purely circumstantial. The Movement for the Independence of Quanzar and Alaria's rise to power was a result of its monopoly of the democratic opposition to the military junta, which granted it an unprecedented degree of popularity and democratic legitimacy. But now that its main goal has been accomplished the Movement may soon run out of steam and be countered by Istalian nationalist forces. In order to preserve their achievements the separatists thus agreed to the reunion of the two former halves of Istalia under a new federal state.



The Union of Quanzar and Alaria will replace the Istalian Republic as the state exercising sovereignty over Alaria and the Sarrentina Peninsula, but with guaranteed autonomy to the two erstwhile independent breakaway states, the Community of Quanzar and the Alarian Republic. A collective head of state known as the Federal Council and chaired by its President will exercise executive power, and although the two constituent republics will each have its own legislative and executive structure, a new legislative will be elected for the Union, to be known as the Federal Assembly. The new state will adopt new national symbols, distancing itself from Istalianism and every reference to Istalia, and instead embracing the symbols and cultures of the many different ethnic groups living in the young country. The new flag will be a green-white-black tricolor, a color scheme popular among countries once ruled by the Quanzar Empire, but for the new state symbolizing the peace (white) between the Istalian (green) and Majatran (black) ethnic groups. A triskelion, a historical reference to the triangular shape of the Sarrentina Peninsula, will adorn the new flag, adopting a distinct national symbol for the new binational state.

[Aethan]

A new rise of Alarianism!
The Popular Front of Alaria is constituted to "safeguard the essences" of the town of Alaria
May 5035


Sofia Barberi, newly elected federal secretary of the Popular Front of Alaria

After the official declaration of a confederation between the territories of Quanzar and Alaria, the result of the great political, social and historical earthquake of recent years in the formerly known as Istalia, there have been few who have risen the voice again from the island of Alaria, fearful that at any moment, their long-awaited freedom and independence for so many years may come to an abrupt end, or that Quanzar's territory will try to impose its rules even under a different regime.

For this reason, numerous civil and political associations, including that of the Alarian Bloc, which had previously contributed to the separation of both Quanzar and Alaria, have announced this afternoon the foundation of the "Popular Front of Alaria" (Ist. Fronte Popolare d'Alaria, FPdA), which aims to "safeguard the essences" of the way of life and culture of the people of Alaria, as well as the rights obtained over many centuries.

The organization, which will be structured as a political party in the coming days, will be headed by a secretary general, labor lawyer and activist for the rights of civil minorities Sofia Barberi, who has said that it is "an honor" to accept this position to fight for the voice of the Alarians.

"We want to be the voice of all the citizens of this great island, so that they will never trample us again. We will continue to fight for everything we have achieved, to leave no one behind and above all, to fight for our future and the future. of the next generations with hope, and not with fear. We will not be an oppressed people again. "

For the moment, the party's political ideology has not transcended, which is expected to also take shape in the coming weeks and months, as the number of militants and participants grows.

With the formation of the Popular Front of Alaria, a cold war is opened in the newly born confederation, since if the party gets representation in the next elections there will be a party as a representative of each of the federations that make up this new political entity.

[Polites]

Language Reforms Implemented
December 5036



One of the primary goals of the separatist movements that brought down the military dictatorship and founded the Union of Quanzar and Alaria has been the recognition of the local "dialects" of Istalian as distinct languages. The Disegno di legge due to pass in February next year will grant just that recognition to five different Istalian "dialects", in addition to a number of policies designed to strengthen languages other than Istalian in the young Union. While Istalian, under its regional name "Fidelian", retains its role as the sole official language at the federal level and as the "language of inter-ethnic communication", the five regions are authorized and required to not only recognize their local linguistic varieties, but to actively promote them by implementing language revival and immersion programs. Moreover, the Majatran language, whose use in the country has been steadily declining for centuries, has been declared a co-official language of the Community of Quanzar, one of the two constituent political entities that form the Union of Quanzar and Alaria. And perhaps most significantly the Federal Council will require all municipalities to be officially renamed in the local language of the region in which they are situated.



This policy marks a momentous shift from past regimes, all of which operated under the assumption that Istalia was a monolingual nation with a small Majatran minority, while relegating the many varied languages spoken on the peninsula and island to the status of dialects of Istalian. This new policy marks the first time that the country's diglossic situation is not only recognized, but actively embraced. As expected the new policy has met with some opposition, particularly from Istalian nationalists that see this as an attempt to divide the nation. The academic community on the other hand has applauded the new policy and endorsed the recognition of the local linguistic varieties as languages. In spite of this however the Quanzarian and Alarian local languages will need to overcome centuries of stigma and marginalization if they are to survive for more than a few generations.

[Aethan]

Victory of the Alarian nationalists!
The Popular Front of Alaria prevails with more than 87% in the Alarian Republic and with a somewhat lower percentage in the Community of Quanzar
April 5038


Federal Secretary of the FPdA, Sofia Barberi (in white) following the election results

In what appears to be a new stage for the Union of Quanzar and Alaria, the voters have granted an absolute majority - 463 of the 575 seats in the Federal Assembly - to the Popular Front of Alaria, founded just a few years ago to stand in these elections. with the main interest of defending the interests of the newly born Alarian Republic from "any attempt to undermine its identity."

The Popular Front of Alaria, without a defined ideology beyond Alarian nationalism and the defense of "human rights" - its own leaders speak of "syncretism" for the moment - has risen with victory in all regions of both Quanzar and of Alaria, although its triumph has been most emphatically in the two regions of the Alarian Republic, where it has garnered almost 12 million votes compared to the barely 1.5 million that the MIQ has received.

After knowing the results, the federal secretary of the party Sofia Barberi has appeared before the media to thank all the citizens for the opportunity they have been given to make a new policy.

"The first step has already been taken: the disappearance of the artificial Istalian State and the creation of a union between our two nations, Alaria and Quanzar. Now is when we have to continue deepening this union, implementing the linguistic reforms approved during the previous stage and introducing new changes ".

In addition, Mrs. Barberi has advanced that one of the fundamental measures of her new government - it is expected that she will take office as the new President of the Federal Council - will be the establishment of a cocapitality between Romula, the current capital of the a union located in Quanzar, and a city yet to be revealed located in Alaria. In addition, she also intends to change the name of the Union, which is currently generally known as Quanzar, for "Quanzar and Alaria".

"It is inadmissible that, being a technically peer-to-peer union, the island of Alaria continues to be considered secondary actors. The capital of the union should now be shared by two cities, one from each member of the union, and the same union should be known by the name of its two members, not just one of them. If we do not achieve this, we will continue to be subject to the will of Quanzar. "

At the moment, more measures to be taken by the new government are unknown, but it is expected that the first laws will be presented in the coming weeks. Asked about the unexpected victory in Quanzar, some leaders agree that the public mainly demanded a change, and that surely the coming elections will not see such good results, especially if policies are applied that go in the direction of granting greater benefits to Alaria .

[XanderOne]

The "Unitarists" organize themselves into a political party: "Identity and Unity" is born
At the head of the party Giovanni Maria Brunori della Scala takes a strong stand against the independenstist/autonomist parties: "Falsehood and biased propaganda! Our history deserves more respect"

Giovanni Maria Brunori della Scala presents its newly founded political party; there were a lot of old Istalian flags displayed during the ceremony in opposition to the new national symbols considered by Brunori and the party as "empty fetishes of the political and historical eradication vortex into which the country has sunk"

It seems not everyone in Quanzar and Alaria has forgotten the country it once was, Istalia, and after more than 10 years from the birth of the new federation, dominated by independentist parties, the birth of a new political actor who can give voice to all those who oppose the new state order was announced today.

In Colsamia, formerly known as Romula which for over 2 millennia was the capital of Istalia, the lawyer and former army general Giovanni Maria Brunori della Scala presented the new political movement, called "Identity and Unity", on the occasion of the inauguration of the headquarters of the cultural association "Memory of Istalia", also founded by Brunori and a large number of people who wanted to oppose the systematic cancellation of the country's identity and the biased alteration of its historical memory.

Brunori, who got on the podium, in front of the audience made a decidedly critical speech against the current dominating political forces, the new state organization and the political dialectic of recent years aimed, according to the new political organization, to subvert the historical reality in order to endorse and support the parties at the power and their hold on the country:

The memory of a national identity that has been the one of this land for over 31 centuries has not been forgotten my friends!

The axe of cultural eradication has hit the country and our identity, exalting ephemeral particularities and favoring the disintegration of a nation that was once united.

Falsehood and propaganda have distorted our history, portraying it as an ethnic oppression, a foreign occupation, when instead the only truth is that for over 30 centuries we have been a single people, enriched by the variety of cultures that have forged it and which they were part, coexisting in peace and harmony as an expression of the country's millennial history.

They want us to believe that the Peninsula has been a land occupied by the Islanders for over 29 centuries! They want us to believe that for 29 centuries one of the most stable and long-lived nation-states in history was actually a regime of ethnic occupation!

The truth is that for over 3000 years those who had to defend themselves from countless foreign occupations and those who suffered countless times attempts of ethnic and cultural eradication were us... we, the Istalians!

Should I be ashamed to call myself in such a way? I won't, because that's what I am, that's what we are! From the peaks of the Nayar in the west to the easternmost shores of the island, we are all Istalians. A people that for centuries has made the country's numerous ethnic, religious and cultural minorities its strength; they themselves were part of and characterized Istalian identity and culture.

They speak about oppression when the truth is that for millennia representatives of all the numerous components of this great people of ours have participated equally and without discrimination in the political, social, cultural and economic life of the country.

The deniers of this truth are indeed the umpteenth ones who are trying to eradicate our true identity. And not content for having distorted our past, almost as a mockery of centuries of struggles and real oppressions, they even wanted to revive a term that for centuries has been synonymous of pain, humiliation and suffering: "Quanzar", like the Kafuri invaders who for almost 5 centuries first subjugated the peninsula and then the island and again the Solentian invaders, worthy descendants of the former, who three times established authoritarian regimes that made the extinction of our identity the cornerstone of their political action.

They want me to call my language "Fidelian", they want me to declare myself "Alarian", even though my family and I have lived in Romula for generations beyond memory, and yes... Romula, that's her name, not an invention of an invading people, but a name that the city has carried for millennia, a name that, however, today, in this climate of denial and historical eradication, seems "inconvenient".

Well, let me tell you that I and all of us, who have not forgotten who we are and who are not ashamed to proudly claim it, will not stop until we have put an end to this ethnic, historical and cultural erasure.

Once again we are called to defend ourselves from those who want to cancel us, from those who want to make us something else! Once the enemy was a foreign invader, today it's an ideology that like a disease has spread among us and that is the only thing that really needs to be eradicated!

Brothers, remember the glorious words of what was our Anthem: Let us unite, Istalia has called!

Welcomed with thunderous applause, Brunori then began to hardly criticize the words expressed recently and in the previous years by the leadership of both the League for the Independence of Quanzar and of the Popular Front of Alaria.
Brunori attacked first of all the newly elected Federal President Sofia Barberi and their words expressed in the aftermath of the last elections:

How can you talk about an "artificial Istalian State"? How you dare talking about Istalia as something of artificial and imposed? How much disrespect for the memory of all those who for centuries have died to defend their Istalian identity!
One kingdom, six republics, one empire! Should we really believe that it was 32 centuries of "artificial and fictitious" history? Yet it was Alaria that was known first of all as Istalia, right there in Alaria came into being that syncretism of cultures that gave rise to the Istalians! With what courage can one deny all this?
The only reasons that led to the creation of this Alarian independence movement were momentary passing and particular interests and whims, an island parochialism aimed only at defending and enhancing the particular interests of the island.
If we are against forms of local autonomy? Not at all! We are aware of the richness and variety that has always distinguished the Istalian people. What we oppose is the sectarian propaganda that has accompanied the new course of the country, a propaganda that has distorted reality and bent it to the interests of the moment, a propaganda worthy of the worst totalitarian regimes, pure historical revisionism.
It is simply embarrassing that the current head of state could follow up on such bias and it is sad to see how the memory of our fathers is so trampled. Well Madam Federal President, not all your fellow citizens are ready to forget over thirty centuries of history!

But the harshest words were addressed by Brunori della Scala to the other party responsible for the creation of the new Federation, today at the opposition, namely the League for the Independence of Quanzar:

It is abhorrent that a political party in this country has had the courage to use the term "Quanzar". But on the other hand, let's look at who formed the hard core of these separatists, radical exponents of Majatran and Solentian communities who, in order to achieve the power, did not hesitate to give themselves the name of those who, more than any other, were the worst enemies of Istalia.
People who did not hesitate to express the worst guff to bring grist to the mill ! Just big criers who spoke about marginalization and cultural destruction and assimilation when instead the majatran istalians have been widely protected for centuries and their culture has always been recognized as one of the most important souls of the Istalian people. They say that their language has been despised and their communities forcibly integrated when, on the other hand, there have been countless measures aimed at safeguarding them! Just to name a few, do we want to forget about the 4566 Devolution Program from the Istalian Majatran? Or the even more fundamental Official Recognition of the Istalian Majatrans as Ethnic, Cultural and Linguistic National Minority of 4489? So should we really believe the lies about an oppressed and forcibly assimilated people?
And about the Solentians... what to say? Apparently too many have just turned out to be ungrateful! Only God knows how much Istalia has struggled to cope with the migratory waves of refugees coming from Solentia! Only God knows how much Istalia has suffered due to the countless, too many, authoritarian regimes that have taken place in Solentia. Those were regimes of ethnic oppression and supremacism. They had the courage to talk about Istalia in the same terms with which, rightly, we talked about Solentia, pariah of Majatra like few we have seen. For centuries, Istalia has been a beacon of truth, justice, democracy and tolerance even for our neighbors... and is this how they repay us? Apparently old habits die hard! I would not be surprised if one of those Solentians sooner or later came out claiming a lineage from the House of Hessex! A joke? Certainly, but nowadays I would not be surprised, since the falsehoods, the partisan propaganda and the politics of ethnic and cultural suppression unite the current politics with the nefarious regimes that have borne the name of "Quanzar".
The use of such a term is an insult to the memory of all those who gave their lives to fight the oppressive Quanzars, an insult to the memory of our founding fathers, starting with the first true Father of the Country, Carlo Aurelio Gianti, the one who in front of the first istalian parliament, expression of the first Istalian democracy, proclaimed the unity and indivisibility of the country, the end of the centuries-old foreign oppression and the newfound freedom of the Istalian people.
To those who care about our country and who have not forgotten the millennial memory that we carry with us, know that we will do everything to restore the respect for our past and rehabilitate the honor of our history!

Will Giovanni Maria Brunori della Scala be able to reinvigorate the souls of the Istalians despite the very strong hold of the current parties in power over the country? On the other hand, the sixth republic was a long and dark period in the history of the country, a sinking towards an increasingly authoritarian, paternalistic and religious regime to which a military dictatorship was unable to respond, as could be expected from a dictatorship. There have been many errors, said Brunori, many citizens and entire communities have gradually distanced themselves from power and central government, a distancing that has also had cultural and social implications during the countless decades of decline and political oppression and then chaos.
Brunori, however, firmly stated that the dismemberment of the country and the distortion of its essence cannot be effective and adequate responses and expressed deep concern for the consequences that division between "continental" and "islanders" could bring.

However, Brunori's political career and his ambitions could also be undermined by his past: he in fact made a career in the armed forces, in the Army advocacy body to be precise, before and during the dictatorship of the military junta. Although he left the Army before the fall of the junta dedicating himself to civil forensic activity and never had any political role during those years, his military background could in fact bring several criticisms to him.

[Aethan]

The Popular Front of Alaria stays strong!
The Alarian-based party maintains its absolute majority and wins the governments of both nations
April 5046


Sofia Barberi (left) and Ivano Cavicchi (right) after the election results

After an intense and uncertain electoral day, the Popular Front of Alaria has once again validated its victory in its third consecutive elections. In addition, it has maintained the government of the Republic of Alaria, in the hands of Mia Di Giacomo since 5038 by successive absolute majorities, and they have won the government of Quanzar for Ivano Cavicchi after losing it in the previous elections.

With 291 seats and more than 57% of the votes, the Popular Front of Alaria also maintains its absolute majority in the Federal Assembly, which will allow it once again to elect the Federal Council for this new legislature, whose presidency will foreseeably fall back on the general secretary of the party Sofia Barberi. The League for the Independence of Quanzar, despite obtaining just 15% of the vote, managed to get more than 25% of the seats of the Federal Assembly thanks to its great results in Fidelia, while the new party Identity and Unity, which advocates for the restoration of the Istalian nation, obtained 27% of the votes but just 22% of the seats of the Federal Assembly.

In the Alarian Assembly, the FPdA has won 139 of the 230 seats, largely thanks to the vote of the Nicoma region, which has sunk the IeU's chances despite its good results in the Cisavugli region.

In the Quanzar Assembly, the results have been more adjusted, with 152 seats for the FPdA, 131 for the LNQ and 62 seats for IeU, which in practice leaves the future second government of Ivano Cavicchi in a minority.

After knowing the results, Sofia Barberi has appeared on the big stage set up in the capital of Alaria, Pontolasch, from where she has vindicated the projection of the Popular Front of Alaria and thanked the voters for their support.

"After an electoral campaign in which we have seen how the unionist party Identità ed Unità tried to deny us our rights as a nation, it is appreciated that the voters have mostly turned their backs on it. From here, we congratulate the rest of the political parties for the results obtained, and we encourage you to collaborate together for the future of the Union of Quanzar and Alaria, as two independent nations united by close common ties. The Popular Front of Alaria is alive, the Popular Front of Alaria is well, and so are the spirits of the good people of the Alarian Republic! "

she has claimed to all the people reunited in the big square.

Mrs. Barberi also dedicated a few words to the president of Identità ed Unità, Giovanni Maria Brunori Della Scala, who accused the Popular Front of Alaria and the League for the Independence of Quanzar of "breaking a millennial nation".

"Honorable Brunori Della Scala, you are welcome to identify yourself with the nation that you like the most, according to the ties that unite you to it, but always keeping clear the clearly differentiated identities. That does not mean that we are rivals, but brothers. And nothing happens about it, and that is how the voters have made it see it. We encourage you to collaborate during this term with us to promote more ties between all ".

The reelected President of Alaria, Mia Di Giacomo, has also talked about the Identity and Unity's leader declarations, posting a message on her social media after the results were known, in which she says: "I appreciate the participacion and exemplar behaviour of all our citizens in these elections, and the confidence given to me to continue guiding our nation. To those who wants to steal our liberty from us I say: Try again!"

[Polites]

Istalianism Reemerges
June 5046



The elections in April this year have returned a rather unsurprising result. The independentist Popular Front of Alaria has reconfirmed its large albeit reduced majority in the Federal Assembly, while the League for the Independence of Quanzar, the Quanzarist independentist/autonomist movement, remains the leader of the opposition. But one recent development of the last election is the rise of a new Istalian nationalist movement, Identity and Unity. Founded by former army advocate Giovanni Maria Brunori della Scala, Unity and Identity represent a belated counter-reaction to the collapse of Istalia and the establishment of the binational Union of Quanzar and Alaria. The founders of the Union did count on the persistence of Istalian nationalism, which is why the leaders of the two breakaway republics decided to establish a federal union and continue under a single federal state. However fears of an Istalian takeover have never perished, although fortunately for the independentists the new unionist party has emerged as the smallest force in the Federal Assembly.



Dumìnicu Accorsi, the founder and Chair of the League for the Independence of Quanzar, addressed his supporters in Colsamia, the capital of the Region of Fidelia where the League won more than 99% of the votes, conceding defeat and congratulating the other political forces for their electoral results. He also used this opportunity to address some of the critiques brought by Giovanni Maria Brunori della Scala against the independentist project in general and the Quanzarist movement in particular:

[...] The League is most pleased to see the results of the Popular Front [of Alaria] and we will guarantee that their government will receive our full and unconditional support in the Community of Quanzar! We would also like to congratulate Identity and Unity for a good first result. We will most likely not see eye to eye on many things in the coming legislature, but for the sake of the two nations of our Union we are willing to work together with them for the common interest of Quanzar and Alaria.

[...]

della Scala is of course free to identify with whichever nation he pleases, even a defunct artificial one like Istalia. But although he can proudly proclaim himself Istalian and his native language the Istalian language, sadly I cannot. My language, Trivinnutanu (OOC: Sicilian), has for millennia been considered a mere dialetto, a substandard and informal variety of the language Mr. della Scala claims to speak. My nation too, Quanzar, has for millennia been considered the synonym of oppression and apartheid, when it is us Quanzarians, whether Majatran or Sarrentine, who have had our national identity erased and our languages forcefully subsumed under the blanket name of "Istalian". Mr. della Scala does not know how it feels to have people insist you are actually speaking another language than the one you are speaking, to be punished in school for using your native tongue, to be ridiculed in public for using the language of your parents, or to see your mother tongue driven to the brink of extinction. He also does not recognize the inherent ethnic diversity of our homeland Quanzar, and does not see that our Majatran brothers and sisters are indigenous to our Peninsula as much as we are, and as much as they are to Kafuristan, Badara, Solentia, or Wantuni. For him the belated and grudging recognition of linguistic and ethnic rights after millennia of oppression is a privilege Majatrans should be grateful for, not a hard-won right they and their allies have fought for over generations. And now that we too have won the same rights and at long last exercised our inherent and inalienable right to self-determination, now that this very city has returned to its glorious native name Qolshamih, now that our brothers and sisters in Alaria have also regained their freedom, now that the many languages spoken by our two nations have finally been granted their due recognition and support, now Mr. della Scala and his acolytes wish to exhume the rotting corpse of Istalia. They can do with that corpse whatever they wish, as long as they leave our two free and united nations in peace.

[Polites]

Demilitarization of Quanzar and Alaria
February 5048



What is now known as the Union of Quanzar and Alaria was until very recently ruled by a harsh military dictatorship, characterized by numerous human rights abuses that ultimately galvanized independentist movements. Although the collapse of the junta and transition towards the current binational federation occurred peacefully, it was not without the vehement opposition of the upper echelons of the former Istalian armed forces. Fearing a military coup not unlike the recent army takeover in Deltaria, the leadership of the Union of Quanzar and Alaria has ultimately decided to take the drastic step of abolishing the Istalian Armed Forces and creating a new military structure for the two constituent nations of the Union.



Centuries ago Istalia was a great power, sustained by a powerful military capable of projecting its might throughout Terra. Although Istalian military power has declined significantly in recent centuries, the armed forces have remained one of the best trained and equipped in Majatra. Closely associated with Istalian national identity and seeing themselves as guardians of the Istalian constitutional order, a position consolidated with victory against Thallerist forces and the ascension of Air Squadron General Michele Appiano De Borromei to the Istalian throne, the armed forces saw it as their duty to restore order to the beleaguered Sixth Republic and establish a "temporary" military junta to rule the nation.

This has caused persistent fears that the military would intervene at the slightest hint of a crisis within the new Union of Quanzar and Alaria. Although the leadership of the military dictatorship are either in exile or serving time on account of the junta's human rights violations, most of the officers in the armed forces owe their ranks to promotion under military rule. Seeking to preempt any potential political move on behalf of the armed forces, and also seeking to consolidate the distinct national identities of the Community of Quanzar and the Alarian Republic, the Federal Assembly approved a Proposta di legge this month that abolished the Istalian Armed Forces and established separate militaries for the two nations, while also significantly demilitarizing the Union and decommissioning its nuclear arsenal. Training new armed forces from scratch and appointing new officers is bound to take a significant amount of time, and there has already been talk of potential mass resignations in the armed forces, particularly the Navy, traditional bastion of Istalianism.