Fleur Imperialis

The Protectorate of Fleur Imperialis is a huge, easy-going nation located in Oceanica in World 16, remarkable for its blank-check policy for politicians. Its population of 137.81 million Civil Servants love a good election, and the government gives them plenty of them. Universities tend to be full of students debating the merits of various civil and political rights, while businesses are tightly regulated and the wealthy viewed with suspicion. The average national tax rate is 16.67%.

Banana farmers roam the streets of New Gettysburg peddling peels to passing clowns. A multitude of tap, swing, and hip-hop schools have added classes for the lesser primates. Many comedians have fallen back on the humor printed on their under-clothes. Doctors are known to prescribe nothing but anti-biotics. It's rumored that gangsters have been thanking cement manufacturers for their quality production of "shoes." Leather-skinned former sunbathers protest the widespread use of solar cells. Three-eyed fish have been found in local fishtanks. Sports cars have been spotted peeling rubber on the roads. "X-treme" scooter parks have sprung up around the country. Cowboys have come to New Gettysburg to get their fill of firearms. A dozen of the local beauties have file restraining orders against geeky game developers.

The populace is incredibly well-fed by its budding gourmet culture. The country is renowned for being very well-dressed. Only the top percentile of healthy drivers are given the privilege of being organ donors thanks to the abundance of medical supplies. The country has become famous for its well stocked silos of materials feeding industries all that they require. Workers are known for their incredible punctuality thanks to the world-class supply of transportation. More and more elite officers are graduating from military training. The country is known for its new renaissance of entertainment art.

Fleur Imperialis's fearless leader resides in the nation's capital of New Gettysburg, making grand decisions typically with a pet Golden Eagle curled-up on the carpet.

Historical Summary–

Fleur Imperialis has a long and illustrious history.

Originally established in 1892 as a colony of the German Empire, the early settlers of Fleur Imperialis were forced to contend with tropical diseases and dense jungles in order to build the capital city of New Gettysburg. However Fleur Imperialis soon grew into a prosperous colony that was briefly invaded during the First World War by British Commonwealth troops. The British advance was repelled by a conscript army under the command of the now legendary Field Marshal Gustav von Brennan, a national hero of Fleur Imperialis.

However, at the end of the war Fleur Imperialis still remained a colonial holding of Germany. During the Great Depression, Fleur Imperialis became a destination for many European economic refugees. This boosted the population by almost 30 percent.

At the outbreak of the Second World War Fleur Imperialis, under the leadership of Field Marshal Gustav von Brennan, annexed several neighboring French colonial territories. The brief conflict saw almost no fatalities, and a short–lived occupation of the conquered territories began. At the war’s conclusion Fleur Imperialis was forced to relinquish the annexed territories, but was left largely untouched by the destruction of the conflict. Again Fleur Imperialis became a destination for the flood of refugees fleeing war–ravaged Europe. This increased the population by almost 40 percent.

During the late 1940s, Fleur Imperialis underwent a brief Anglo–French occupation. During this time a French military tribunal executed Field Marshal Gustav von Brennan for charges of war crimes. However Fleur Imperialis declared its independence and sovereignty once the occupation ended.

During the Cold War Fleur Imperialis largely sided with America and Western Europe, and several large scale communist uprisings were suppressed with heavy usage of riot police. A close relationship with America allowed the nuclear program of Fleur Imperialis to be established in 1968. It was during the Cold War that the thriving overseas Taiwanese community of Fleur Imperialis was established.

In the early 1970s an outbreak of the deadly Albanian flu turned into a major pandemic that devastated Fleur Imperialis. At the pandemic’s end, nearly 3 million citizens had perished. On the bright side, the pandemic prompted the expansion of the antibiotics industry with the funding of the federal government.

However, the nation quickly rebounded and has since made a prominent return to the world stage.

Fleur Imperialis is currently a federal republic led by a chancellor, who is elected by the senate to serve a life term. The current chancellor is Werner von Rheinhardt, who has held this position for nine years. Senators are elected for 8 year terms by the citizens themselves. Domestic politics in Fleur Imperialis are dominated by the left–wing Progressive Democratic Socialist Party. The position of secretary of the PDSP tends to alternate between Theodosius Northwright, a party hardliner, and Jiang Di Zhai, a moderate. The small but vocal opposition consists of the neoconservative Imperialis Freedom Party. The party secretary is currently Annabella Westfall.

Recently, the multinational United Liberation Front of Fleur Imperialis (ULFFI) and the Democratic Alliance for International Cooperation (DAIC) have come under the control of Fleur Imperialis. These influential alliances have drastically changed the foreign policy outlook of Fleur Imperialis. Before, Fleur Imperialis was a pacifistic nation whose minimal security defense forces were limited to border patrol assignments. The security forces consisted of a mere 1,500 troops, 10 trucks, 3 light tanks, 5 river patrol boats, and 2 helicopters.

Since Fleur Imperialis’s acquisition of the ULFFI and DAIC, military funding has increased and the armed forces are now a major component of Fleur Imperialis’s foreign policy. 200 man peacekeeping detachments from the 29th Protectorate Grenadiers are frequently deployed overseas to client states to enforce the peace and defend the interests of Fleur Imperialis. The 29th Protectorate Grenadiers, led by Lieutenant Colonel Elissa von Ansel, is by no means an elite fighting force and suffers heavy casualties in peacekeeping operations in such volatile regions as Cyprus, Central America, Southeast Asia, and Sub–Saharan Africa. However the underfunded peacekeeping forces of the 29th Protectorate Grenadiers are famed for their strict discipline and the skilled combat medics that follow troops into conflict zones.

Recent peacekeeping operations in several Central African nations have seen rumors of genocide of the local populace by troops under the command of Lt. Col. Elissa von Ansel, who refused to comment on these accusations. In addition, outspoken local political leaders have accused von Ansel of supporting various warlord factions in the region. In response, von Ansel claimed she was suffering a severe shortage of manpower in these peacekeeping operations, necessitating cooperation with regional warlords.

At the moment the underfunded peacekeeping detachments of the 29th Protectorate Grenadiers are temporarily being supplemented with foreign mercenaries. Plans are being drawn up for the establishment of an Imperialis Foreign Legion designed to alleviate the manpower shortage currently faced by peacekeeping detachments.