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Region: Europe
The Republic of Hwanju | An Overview
The Republic of Hwanju (Hwanese: Hwanjuminguk, 화주민국) is a presidential constitutional republic located in eastern Assuwa. With a population of 915 million people, it is the world’s most populous country. It is the third largest country in the world in terms of land area, spanning just under 14 million kilometres squared and four different time zones. Hwanju is divided into sixteen provinces which are further divided into 102 prefectures and 1,727 counties. The capital and largest city of Hwanju is Songhan
Hwanju is one of the most ancient continuous civilisations in human history, with the first Hwan polities emerging around 2200 BC. The first great Hwan dynasty, the Daru, emerged around 1000 BC and continually ruled for close to 500 years before disintegrating. They were succeeded by the Three Purple Dynasties who each oversaw temporary periods of stability before being consumed by disaster in a period of great stagnation. The Uija dynasty emerged in 150 AD and reunified the historic territory of the Daru by 250 AD, reaching a territorial peak in 500 AD. Successive Uija emperors instituted wide-reaching reforms that transformed Hwan society, including the standardisation of the Hwan languages and scripts, and the Hwan system of imperial government. The Uija declined in the eighth century and retreated to the north as the south became fractured. The south was united in the 11th century by the Goi who marched on the north and established themselves as the third great Hwan dynasty. The Goi ruled until the 16th century before famine and military defeat brought the dynasty down. The Hwan were divided or ruled by foreigners until the Great Campaign of 1763 established the Chae dynasty, which would rule the Hwan until their overthrow in 1879 culminated in the Republic of Hwanju in 1891.
The first republic operated systems of federalism and parliamentarism and was marred by civil unrest and political instability. The second republic was established as a unitary presidential constitutional republic in 1941, which is considered the beginning of modern Hwanju. Despite its democratic institutions, the country is considered a flawed democracy by the Democracy Index, with a score of 6.68. The country’s political system is dominated by two political parties and issues such as corruption & fraud are widespread. The current president is Paek Sochun and the current prime minister is Kye Minbok. The president is the most important official in the country and has primary control over domestic, foreign, and security affairs. The Constitutional Council, an independent judicial body, and the National Assembly, the country’s legislature, are the main checks on presidential power. The prime minister is appointed by the president as the head of government and serves as a “vice president” in many respects, and sits in the legislature.
Hwanju today is the largest and most powerful country in Assuwa, and is considered the sole superpower on the continent. It has a developed and prosperous market economy and is a global leader in scientific, cultural, and economic output.
The history of Hwanju is among the longest of the world's civilisations. The relative stability of some early Hwanese societies allowed for writing systems to emerge and events to be recorded in great detail. The oldest extant texts date as far back as 580 BC, but historians agree that Hwanese writing probably began around 1200 BC, shortly before the emergence of the Daru kingdom. The Daru emerged in the Kaesbeol Valley (갯벌골) around 1000 BC and established their capital at the city now known as Daruhan, known then as Daehan. The Daru would spread out from the valley into the central plains and establish the first Hwan empire, lasting for around 500 years. The Daru did not encompass all of what is now considered "Hwan territory" (국가환), but the central core that future Hwan states would seek to possess for legitimacy. They are considered the first Hwan state because the Hwan identity emerged at this time and pictographic scripts became standardised under the chancellory of Gwak An. The Daru collapsed around 500 BC following a series of famines and droughts.
They were succeeded by the Three Purple Dynasties - Hyeon, Sim, and Yeong. These dynasties were short lived and while they were capable of administering the Hwan territories, they struggled to exert themselves beyond that and many Hwan communities remained independent. These dynasties were prone to instability and suffered from clan disloyalty and religious turmoil. The final purple dynasty, the Yeong, would collapse in around 100 AD following a clan revolt by the Uija, who established an independent state on the North Gulf, from which they would spread southwards to establish the Uija dynasty of imperial rule by 150 AD. The Uija have a favourable position in Hwan historiography as a consequence of the economic prosperity and sociocultural development that occurred during their rule. The Uija cemented themselves during the Thinking Spring, a period marked by the proliferation of religious sects and philosophical schools that enjoyed patronage from wealthy clans. The overarching philosophy of the Uija was one of religious and philosophical tolerance, with the most prominent schools being granted property in the new capital of Hanbuk where they would study and debate each other. The most successful of the Uija emperors were Togki and Bangil, who successively presided over the territorial peak of the dynasty and instituted wide-reaching political, legal, and social reforms. Bangil is considered the father of the Hwanese language thanks to his introduction of a new writing system, Hwangeul. In addition, he established new bureaucracies to improve the efficiency of the state that lasted in various forms after the collapse of the Uija. The Uija would ultimately decline in the eighth century and retreat from the south following military defeats by Sinic invaders and disloyalty by the southern clans.
The period after the Uija's decline is known as the "Lost South and Late Uija" period, lasting between 780 AD and 1028 AD. The Uija continued to rule in the north but having lost the south, their economic prosperity dwindled and the next two centuries were marked by relative stagnation. The southern clans were divided and fought amongst themselves and with various Sinic kingdoms. Eventually the Goi, a clan descended from the Hyeon, would establish themselves as the predominant power in the south and, under the rule of Goi Henyol, march on the north and bring an end to the Uija dynasty, establishing the Jesamdaesangtae (Third Great State) of the Hwan, the Goi Dynasty. The Goi did not leave the same legacy of reform as the Uija, but are noted for the longevity of their dynasty and the stability that came with it. A crucial aspect of their early reign was the mixture of the clans, who were historically divided along regional lines and maintaining shaky alliances based on shared interests and tenuous ancestral links. Goi administrators encouraged the mixture of southern, western, and northern clans while preserving the purity of the Goi, ultimately diluting the importance of the clan system and enshrining a new nobility. Despite the demise of the clan system, famine and military defeat against the Sinic and Afanian states would bring an end to the regime. The Hwan core in the Kaesbeol Valley was conquered, as were key cities in the south, and the dynasty formally collapsed with the death of Emperor Goi Jinmo against an Afanian host at Daruhan. The Afanians were repelled within forty years but the Hwan remained divided and with much of the south under occupation. A number of prominent states emerged in this time but none were ever able to unite the Hwan like the Uija and Goi did.
It would not be until 1763 that a "Great Campaign" for Hwan unification was launched by Chae Taehu, a general from the southern city of Galkoksi. The Chae overthrew Sinic rule in the south-west and marched north against the divided states of the region with the aim of establishing another great Hwan state. By the end of the decade, the central kingdoms were captured and many northern kingdoms, including the final descendants of the Goi, swore fealty to the Chae. The Chae dynasty ruled for just over a century but left an important mark on Hwanju's history. The campaign to the expel the foreigners was cut short when they solidifed their rule over the Hwan, and treaties were reached with the Sinic states. This left a sour taste in many of the northern elites, who established organisations promoting reform across Hwanese territory. The most prominent of these was the Hwan People's Political Association, affiliated with the Hanbuk University, which promoted a democratic and parliamentary system of government. The Chae were a conservative and absolutist force however, and calls for reform were met with harsh crackdowns. After the execution of six scholars who promoted constitutionalism, an uprising in Daneonseong Province turned into a rebellion against the monarchy, and the government was overthrown in 1879, leading to a twelve year civil war that culminated in the Republic of Hwanju being proclaimed in 1891.
The first republic was undermined by regionalist interest groups that exploited the federal system and ultranationalists that exploited discontent with the occupation of Hwan territories by the Sinic and Afanian states. The peak of the first republic was under President Jin Hong-ga, who ruled from 1921 to 1927. Prime Minister Jin oversaw the war with Shanha to retake the south-eastern Hwan territories and he personally led the campaign against the Karatesh kingdom, liberating the final Hwan people under an Afanian state. Jin died shortly after the campaign and is memorialised as the father of the new Hwan state, but the republic he participated in fell apart shortly after and was replaced by the second republic in 1941, established following a threat of a coup d'etat by a group of officers aligned with the "Jin Memory Clique" of the ruling Revolutionary Democratic Party. The second republic is a unitary presidential system and persists to the present day. Modern Hwan politics have been marked by a two-party system, with the "Jin Memory Clique" forming the conservative National Party and the former federalists forming the progressive Republican Party. The early years of the second republic were dominated by the conservative, statist presidencies of Nam Dal-kon (1941-1955) and his successor Tae Jil-bom (1955-1961). The Nam-Tae period oversaw significant economic modernisation and the foundations of the "liberal welfare state". It was succeeded by the progressive presidency of Mae Yong-sun (1961-1969) and the liberal presidency of Ra Jae-woo (1969-1973) that democratised the country and shifted conservatism away from the nationalist-authoritarianism of Nam-Tae period to a liberal conservatism that embraced democracy, the rule of law, and internationalism. The period from 1973 to the present has been marked by Hwanju solidifying itself as the continent's superpower and spreading its economic & cultural clout across Assuwa.
Hwanju's judicial system is comprised of four tiers of courts. The lowest tier is comprised of the 102 Prefectural Courts, which deal in minor civil matters and some minor criminal matters, and the 102 Family Courts, which are organised alongside the County Courts and handle divorce and child welfare proceedings. The Prefectural Courts are superceded by the Provincial Courts, which handle significant civil cases and "class 2" criminal offences. The second highest tier is comprised of every other court not mentioned. The most prominent of these are the High Courts that are organised at a provincial level and handle Class 1 criminal offences such as murder and terrorism, and appeals from the prefectural and provincial courts. The High Courts also have special branches such as the Bankruptcy Court, the Intellectual Property Court, the Provincial Labour Court, and the Special Administrative Court, which handle specialised issues. The highest tier is comprised of the Supreme Court, the National Military Tribunal, and the Constitutional Council, the latter of which is fully independent of the judiciary.
Hwanju is a flawed democracy with affairs typical of a developed, modern country. Voters align themselves with parties based on their stances on the issues of the day and vote for them every four years. The current government is formed by a number of conservatives and has taken a militaristic approach to foreign policy and a liberal approach to the economy. The current issues focused on by voters are the accountability of the National Intelligence Directorate, the intervention in Yezderstan, environmental and labour regulation, and youth unemployment. A number of social issues have received attention too, such as home ownership, gender inequality, and immigration. Traditional media coverage tends to focus on the economy and foreign policy while social issues are focused on by younger and more educated voters, especially those in urban areas.
Overview of the Republic of Hwanju