Vongolan People's Republic

"We Stand United."

- The official motto of The Vongolan People's Republic

The Vongolan People's Republic, formerly known as The Kingdom of Vongola, is the government that presides over most of the planet Vongola. The state was formed after a popular coup d'etat led by Uteriach di Armechio dissolved the monarchy and forced parliament to concede some of its power.

The political tensions associated with the VPR's birth, along with its position during the Tanar-Takemikazuchi War, all engendered a civil war that is presently devastating Vongola. Because of this, the Free States Alliance and the New Order both refer to the planet's government as a failed state, though this definition remains controversial.

Human Colonists
At some point in the past, human colonists arrived on Vongola. The event would eventually be referred to as "Vongolan Foundation Day". However, some like the K'thaan Rahksha would later view the day in a less triumphant light.

One of the colonists later recalled seeing a black bird in a dream leading him to wondrous pastures. Legends say that this creature was quite similar to a species native to this planet and that the colonist was having a premonition.

The Kingdom of Vongola
The Kingdom of Vongola was formed sometime in 450 BR. It adopted the black bird from the colonist's dream as the Kingdom's seal, depicting it clutching a golden spear in both of its talons as it rose into the horizon. The seal was displayed on the Vongolan flag, and was often accompanied by the family crest of whichever royal family occupied the throne at the time.

The monarchy was initially a popular institution. For centuries, many wise and virtuous kings and queens ruled Vongola. However, a royal family full of insane and tyrannical leaders eventually took the throne and transformed the monarchy forever. Their power was nearly unchecked until BR 220, when the Queen created a parliament, the Vongolan Global Assembly, to appease a series of non-human protests that threatened the stability of the kingdom. The parliament went through various reforms over the subsequent decades, eventually gaining the power of the purse; but the monarch still held most of the power.

For years, the masses, both human and non-human, felt the effects of the corrupted government. Though Vongola claimed to be a land of economic opportunity, noble relatives of the monarch and loyalists often were the only ones who owned most of the wealth. The middle class was small enough to be considered a sham. To cover up for this, the rulers would often create social and financial welfare programs to soothe the concerns of the impoverished and quell any dissenters. Those that did not comply with these measures were often violently repressed. The oppressive tactics of the Vongolan regime reached unparalleled levels of violence under the arrogant King Agnes Oncé, whose rule also saw an increase in inequality. These conditions allowed a wave of socialist and populist fervor to spread throughout the Vongolan population. The spread of these ideologies was most prominent in the military, which resulted in the formation of a secret committee of anti-monarchist generals in 0 AR.

The revolutionary committee knew that it had the backing of the Vongolan people behind it, meaning that the time was right for a violent revolution. Its leader, Dachori General Uteriach di Armechio, had decided that the putsch would involve the military seizing the palace and forcing Oncé to abdicate. At the same time, civilians loyal to the revolution would take control of several government buildings. While all this would be happening, a recording of the committee's principles would be broadcasted throughout the Kingdom through a holographic transmission. Uteriach also had decided that to personally end the monarchy, he would trick King Oncé into capturing him. The Rider's plan had worked, and the monarchy was gone. Of course, Uteriach took the opportunity to make an example of King Oncé, killing him.

Coup d'Etat
''You, in effect, are a useless rubber stamp of a bygone era. You may think yourselves as guardians of democracy, as heroes who will lead Vongola out of the days of kings and into the days of parliamentary regimes. But you are all cowards and fools who can be manipulated like sheep. You aren't anything like real democracy. I will show you what true democracy looks like.''-Uteriach di Armechio speaking to the Vongolan Global Assembly.

During the transition from the monarchy to the dictatorship, the revolutionaries ensured that there would be no challenges to their authority. Uteriach and his allies confronted the Vongolan Global Assembly with a new constitution that significantly decreased their power and a new budget that would increase military funding. The delegates' complaints were met with a mass protest by revolutionary loyalists (later called Partisans) who stormed the halls of the parliamentary building and demanded reform. Meanwhile, rumors of wealthy Vongolans being murdered by mobs spread throughout the capital city. Special Forces squadrons of the Vongolan military, handpicked by the generals themselves, engaged in secret purges of the nobility and the wealthy citizenry that lived nearest to Oncé City (most notably, those living in Burjua). No one in the public was informed, and only those who had previously pledged absolute loyalty to Uteriach and his allies (or those who had escaped with Thomas Phaedrus Kane) survived. The Vongolan People's Republic continued to violently purge any members of the nobility, even those who were innocent and virtuous. Not so coincidentally, anyone who opposed Uteriach or his ruling council would also be purged.

The revolutionary government's leaders made efforts to reach out to several other governments in the galaxy to forge alliances, trade agreements, and military pacts. One such alliance existed between the VPR and the Tanari Confederation.

Meanwhile, authoritarian crack downs on dissent started growing as Uteriach consolidated his power on the planet. Ironically, dissent was slowly becoming outlawed across the system just as it was under the King. The Vongolan Global Assembly, now even weaker after Uteriach's reforms, became a rubber stamp for the ruling council (itself practically a puppet for the Armechios). Later on, all parties save for the Vongolan Revolutionary Party were outlawed.

Tanari-Takemikazuchi War
While the Vongolan Civil War was still a small-scale conflict, Uteriach decided to join Edward Allman (RBU) and Gabriel Ascheron (RBU) in their war against the Takemikazuchi Empire,  Malchior, and other states. At some point during the war, Figlio used the Craft of Laigula to allow the Amun Collective to return to this side of the galaxy to aid the Tanari. However, the Collective was successfully driven back and contained to two worlds.

The Vongolan People's Republic fought well in the war but soon began to experience significant losses. The Takemikazuchi and their allies gained the upper hand around the same time the Vongolan Civil War began to worsen. Later on, Uteriach was secretly captured and imprisoned for war crimes. Furthermore, the Malchiorians and the remnants of the Galactic Government liberated Krustallos. Finally, sometime after that, the Tanari were defeated and Allman was killed.

The Malchiorians and their allies forged the Free States Alliance (RBU) ("FSA") out of the remnants of the shattered Galactic Government, and Sefer formed a union of her own by transforming the Takemikazuchi Empire and its vassal states into the New Order (RBU). Meanwhile, Vongola plunged into chaos.

Vongolan Civil War
Sometime prior to the Tanar-Takemikazuchi War, Malchior IV and several other states backed multiple rebel factions of different political affiliations to act as "counter-revolutionaries" against the VPR. This loose union became known as the Vongolan Rebel Front, with Thomas P. Kane and Joshua Kozín acting as its leaders.

After the Tanari-Takemikazuchi Warwar, Uteriach disappeared. Some claim that he was imprisoned for his crimes, while others thought he was killed. Figlio di Armechio then assumed power as the new Generalissimo and focused on pacifying the planet's various rebellious provinces. Orbital bombardments of resistance positions, along with other devastating attacks, ensued. However, the rebellion continued to grow, and it even spread to neighboring Tuvar'quóth. What once began as a series of insurgencies evolved into a full-scale intraplanetary civil war.

Over time, Kozín became a hero to the multiple rebel factions. Although many of the groups kept some level of autonomy, more and more of them turned to him as their true leader. Kozín started to spread ideas about his vision of Vongola after the war: a more equitable and balanced republic not prone to the extremes of either the monarchy or the VPR. Kane began to lose his political standing in the overall Front, so his monarchist faction began to act more independently. Additionally, other groups with widely different political visions began to show defiance to Kozín. Meanwhile, the FSA and the Vongolan Rebel Front hired the Diamond Dogs (RBU) to assist in the rebellion.

The Vongolan Civil War has been incredibly lengthy, devastating, and complex, with no clear winner as of yet. All of the factions, including the VPR, have faced tremendous losses mixed with pyrrhic victories. Most notably is the increase in VPR territory that came as a result of The Shattering due to the Vongolan Rebel Front's limited ability to recover from the disaster.

Battle of Sards
Kane and his faction fought valiantly at the Battle of Sards, killing the K'thaanic general Julio (RBU). Kozín had mixed feelings about the victory at Sards because he was concerned that it would allow the monarchists to gain significant influence in the war.

Wake the Dead
Gerry Arwell, an ally of the Diamond Dogs, proposed to both Dallas Dalton and Figlio that Uteriach was still alive and imprisoned on the planet Vonilla. They all decided to cooperate on a mission to liberate Uteriach to change the tide of the war. However, Dallas Dalton privately planned with Malchiorian defector Hercules Splendor to kill Uteriach. Arwell himself had motives of his own, though they remain a mystery.

Monarchic Period
Throughout most of the monarchic period, Vongola was an industrial power, with various sectors profiting from research and service-based economies. Additionally, its colonial ventures in the Tuvar system allowed for the mining industry to develop. As a result of some of these developments, the Kingdom of Vongola became an export-driven economy, trading various metals and manufactured goods with the rest of the galaxy. Foreign direct investment was encouraged, as well as the expansion of foreign industry, but all had to be approved by the ruling class (with expansions only occurring in the form of subsidiaries that were jointly owned by intergalactic corporations and Vongolan nobles). It was once said that you could never do business in Vongola without some cousin of the crown getting a cut.

Though the monarch and the nobility invested in most firms, there was less regulation than one would assume. That being said, few owners of businesses and assets did not come from a royal or noble background, and oftentimes, much nepotism would occur when it came to managerial positions. Once the Vongolan Global Assembly was created, reforms that allowed greater upward mobility ensued, and more were able to become wealthy or make a modest living (on the condition that they were proven loyal to the crown, of course).

That being said, there was a massive wealth gap between rich and poor, especially affecting the oppressed K'thaan people, and Vongolans living in rural areas. As was noted earlier, a largesse safety net and financial welfare program was formed by the Assembly, coming primarily from tariffs and taxes. However, the variance of working conditions as well as vast societal to growing unrest. Eventually, the economy floundered for a variety of reasons, and the safety net began to fray. King Once worsened the situation by violently quashing dissent.

Revolutionary and Warring Periods
Generalissimo Uteriach di Armechio and the other generals initiated a transition to a more planned economy. Many firms and industries were "nationalized" (some enterprises were jointly owned by loyalist plutocrats and VPP Partisans, while others were fully state-owned). All of the firms were told to operate under production targets set by the Vongolan People's Republic. However, the devastation of two wars virtually destroyed much of Vongola's economy, save for the wealth corruptly accumulated by the Armechios and some of their loyal comrades.

Demographics
The Vongolan People's Republic has a diverse population, but a slim majority of them are humans of varying ethnic backgrounds. The largest minority is the Tuvar-nloq, a group of blue-skinned amphibian humanoids from a neighboring planet in the system. A historically important minority is the K'thaan, the native race of Vongola which was largely oppressed by the alien (human and nonhuman) conquerors, primarily in the monarchic era.