Union of Collectivist Council Republics

The U.C.C.R. officially the Union of Collectivist Council Republics is a socialist state which exists and resides in the Western half of the continent Arith. It is nominally a federal union of multiple national republics, but in practice its government is highly centralised, and controls many of the aspects of the respective Collectivist Council Republics. The country is a one-party state governed by the National Collectivist League, with Melevorgrad as its capital within its largest and most populous republic, the Ceiltean CCR.

The U.C.C.R. has a history spanning long before it's own establishment. Originally being the planned name of a union of states headed by the Pyrrhian Collectivist Council Republic, the project was abandoned following the outbreak of the First Great Alathran War and the subsequent fall of the Pyrrhian Collectivist Council Republic. Following the establishment of the High Kingdom of Ceiltea, socio-economic pressures eventually led to the Folksocialist January Revolution which freed the imprisoned High King and former Pyrrhian General Secretary, Melevor. After the successful completion of the Revolution across both Ceiltea and the occupied Lordship of Yangtzeguo a provisional government was established and eventually a basis of government was formed with the release of Melevor's Collectivist Charter.

Etymology
The Union is comprised of three Collectivist Council Republics, the Ceiltean, the Hongseguoan and Willowgladian CCRs. The term "Collectivist" is derived from the concept of Collectivism which is the principle of giving a group priority over each individual in, while the "Council Republic" is derived from the original Councils which formed the Pyrrhian Commune - the ancestral nation of the Ceilteans - and the Councils which formed following the January Revolution to govern the nation.

Pre-History of the U.C.C.R.
The concept of the Union was first considered by Melevor during his rule over the Pyrrhian Collectivist Council Republic. His idea was to form a union state with various Collectivist Council Republics centred around Western Arith. This concept was quickly dropped, however, due to the pressures that the First Great War applied upon the young PCCR. Following the defeat of the Alathran Entente, which included Pyrrhus, and the scorched earth policies enacted by the Pyrrhian Politburo the city of Pyrrhus was left desolate and in ruins. After fighting to keep the city out of the hands of foreign elements in the Unity-Luton - Pyrrhus War, Melevor resettled alongside the remaining Pyrrhians in the far West of Artih, forming the High Kingdom of Ceiltea.

Western Wastelands
Prior to the establishment of the city of Pyrrhus and the PCCR, the Western half of Arith was mostly unpopulated and empty, though sparsely populated with various bandit tribes who had used the region for many years as a base to attack into the wealthy Free Cities of Alathra's territories before returning with their stolen goods. These bandits were, however, not natives to this land, and had instead enslaved the local population - which would later become the Pyrrhians and then the Ceilteans - into endless mining across iron and gold rich region. The proto-Pyrrhians lived a basic subsistence, with the majority of food, housing and other basic necessities being hoarded by the bandits.

15 Years of Death
While the suffering of the proto-Pyrrhians was immense, it would only get worse as the Four Piglins (Pestilence, War, Famine and Death) struck the region igniting a 15 year-long series of events which included multiple famines, droughts, bandit conflict and widespread plague scourging the lands. During this time many of the already small proto-Pyrrhian population perished either due to hunger, sickness or death at the hands of bandit warlords who fought throughout the lands for dominance. The catastrophic event ended only after the organisation of a widespread rebellion by the proto-Pyrrhians spearheaded by Melevor and the establishment of the city of Pyrrhus.

P.C.C.R. and First Great Alathran War
With the creation of the city of Pyrrhus and quick development thanks to the command economy implemented and overseen by the ruling Politburo it was not long before an official Pyrrhian nation-state had been formed under the name of the Pyrrhian Collectivist Council Republic. The new state embarked on a campaign to consolidate its position through forming friendships both on the continent of Arith, and also around the world. Before the start of the First Great Alathran War, Pyrrhia had officially signed treaties with the Kingdoms of Arith, the Federation of Arith, the Fossores Republic and the young Arcadian Altanate. With the declaration of war upon the Federation of Arith by the Kingdom of Elyria and the formal creation of the Alathran Entente, the P.C.C.R. joined the war on the Entente's side. The war, infamously, was very short and created the circumstances by which the decision was taken by the Politburo to enact scorched earth policies inorder to leave the city with nothing to be taken by the enemy. This left the city of Pyrrhus in disrepair and created the ruins that the city is today.

Unity-Luton - Pyrrhus War
A year following the desolation of Pyrrhus and the end of the First Great War, there were very few people left in the city of Pyrrhus and so the decision was taken by the joint Kings of the Union of Unity-Luton, Gbhm2 and HawlMGamez, to conduct an invasion of Pyrrhian territories to take the land for themselves. The situation looked bleak for those few remaining Pyrrhians, though mercenaries from the Kingdom of Elyria helped repulsed the invading force and win the war for the Pyrrhians, preserving the city from foreign conquest.

The Long Journey
Following the victory at Pyrrhus the decision was made by Melevor to relocate the Pyrrhian people to a new area in the West. After embarking along the then roadless Arith, after many deaths and many days of walking, crossing rivers and hills, the Pyrrhians arrived at the land which would become the four provinces of Ceiltea.

The High Kingdom of Ceiltea
Time as the High Kingdom of Ceiltea was marked by the foundations of cities, though fairly unremarkable, the Ceiltean High Kingdom saw the settling of Ard Saileach, Doire, Carrig and the now defunct town of Rafferty.

Throughout the countries tensions began to rise over the election of Prime Minister Dedrich Collins, who stood on a basis of Ceiltean Conservativsm and the centralisation of the state by reducing regional autonomy with his party the National Conservative League, in opposition to Lord Ronan Carrig, the man who founded the city of Carrig. Carrig stood for regional autonomy, and founded the Carrig Defence League, a local militia which would seek to defend the rights of the region that Carrig was in. In response to the creation of the CDL, a National Conservative backed militia named the National Ceiltean Army arose, as tensions between the two sides of the political dialogue got worse.

Beginning with small skirmishes the now aptly name "Troubles" included various bombings, gang shoot-outs and murders, although all events took place outside of the capital of Ard Saileach, which was revered as a holy place by the Ceiltean Order of Druids due to the presence of the neutral High King, Melevor. During the Troubles Melevor spent most of his time looking to the development of Ard Saileach, building the walls of the city and the beginnings of both the Palace of Kings, and the Ceiltean National Parliament, both of which would go on to become headquarters of the new revolutionary government.

With the January Revolution the political troubles caused by the CDL and NCA withered out and died as more pressing matters took over. Under the Collectivist Government pardons were served out to those from the paramilitaries that relinquished their weaponry and stood by the new revolution, those who remained active and insisted on continuing a now defunct fight were located by State Security forces and detained.

January Revolution
Throughout his rule as High King of Ceiltea, Melevor held to his beliefs of old, eventually writing "Wealth - A critique of Alathran Elitism", a book which following the release of Lord Eytelis of Haven's "Socialist Manifesto" prompted the birth of a worldwide socialist movement. The book first released in Melevor's own lands with enormous success with the common people and intelligentsia, but after two weeks was censored and banned by the Collins Government. Fearing the spread of these ideas further, Dedrich Collins - the Prime Minister of the time - imprisoned the High King inside the former Palace of Kings in Ard Saileach.

After it was leaked that the High King has been put under house arrest by the Government, underground socialist partisans which had formed since the release of the book took to the streets with the aid of intelligentsia who had been preaching the knowledge from "Wealth" to the common people in public squares, organised an overwhelming revolt against the Government and filling the streets with angry workers and farmers.

After a small skirmish on the way into the Government district the capital city fell before the masses, who after releasing the High King declared city as "Red Saileach", before sending missionaries to the other cities of the Kingdom to spread the word of the Revolution and to bring the others in line with the new status-quo. In Carrig, the Lord Ronan Carrig after having his bunker stormed revealed that he was, in fact, a long-time supporter of the socialist cause in Ceiltea, and officially handed the town over to the Revolutionary movement and formally renaming to "Red Carrig". While in the Ceiltean occupied Lordship of Yangtzeguo an internal revolt prompted by socialist agitators led to the city government caving to demands and handing control over to revolutionaries and renaming to "Hongseguo".

While the other major cities of the Kingdom were being captured by revolutionaries, those in Red Saileach, under the command of Melevor formed the official "National Folksarmy" or the "Red Army of the Miners and Farmers". This relatively disorganised and mainly peasant-based military force was then sent to capture the ruins of the town of Rafferty along the border with Willowglade, and the small township of Doire, both of which were successfully captured without bloodshed.

The Collectivist Charter
With the Revolution completed, a Provisional Government was established in Red Saileach until Melevor had completed his newest literary work which would serve as the basis for the government of the rising new state in Ceiltea and Hongseguo. While writing this document the Provisional Office of Revolutionary Activities endorsed the socialist movements of the shortly lived Moriean Republic, and Cresvlits.

Melevor publicly released the Collectivist Charter on the 10th of January 2022, a manifesto which serves as the basis both for the ideology of National Collectivism - also known as Folksocialism - and for the new state the Union of Collectivist Council Republics. The Collectivist Charter promoted the nationalism of the new Union, unity between the nations within it, economic and social protections for workers, religions and cultures as well as promoting an authoritarian socialist political and social stance. The main focus of the manifesto was the concept of the "Great Leader Theory" which promotes the new leader of the state as one that is infallible and the ultimate embodiment of the people's will - and thereby is all-powerful.

The Union was established with two Collectivist Council Republics, the Ceiltean Collectivist Council Republic with appointed Folksgovernor Ronan Carrig, and the Hongseguoan Collectivist Council Republic with appointed Folksgovernor KindOfTiger_. Following the formal establishment of the U.C.C.R. the Folkspresidium voted unanimously to rename the city of Red Saileach to Melevorgrad in honour of the Eternal Leader.

Early History
In late January the U.C.C.R., which had been rapidly developing internally, formally extended it's territories to the disputed island which is now known as "The Island of Collectivism", which had been claimed by the recently absorbed Kingdom of Solis and now by the continental superpower, the Free Cities of Alathra. Following an official extension of the U.C.C.R's territories the F.C.A. decided to also post their most recent claims, which included large swathes of the continent of Arith, and which sparked international outrage due to the amount of land claimed. Following this international outcry diplomatic efforts between the U.C.C.R. and the F.C.A. were made regarding further territories which the U.C.C.R. sought to claim to gain distance between the capital of Melevorgrad and the F.C.A. Autonomous Region of Solis.

While negotiations continued on the former King, and now Senator of the Solis Autonomous Region, TakaraDnd organised an official state visit to the U.C.C.R. to see the efforts of Collectivism in action and to see the many changes to the former backwater that was the High Kingdom of Ceiltea. Eternal Leader of the U.C.C.R, Melevor, met Takara at a bridge connecting the U.C.C.R. to the Oak Road system used widely across Arith, taking the Senator on an extensive tour of the nation.

Shortly before the visit from Senator TakaraDnd to the U.C.C.R, megadalon, a staunch anti-Collectivist decided to start squatting in the ruins of the ancestral city of the Pyrrhians and predecessor of the U.C.C.R, Pyrrhus. This action greatly outraged the populous of the U.C.C.R, many of whom are descended from the Pyrrhians, and some even being veterans from the First Great War who fought for Pyrrhia. Tensions would continue to rise between the U.C.C.R. and megadalon, who had decided to begin an international anti-Collectivist movement called the "Alathran Anti-Communist League", gaining support from individuals such as Warlock Syzmo of Jotunstan (who would later become as much an ardent opponent of the U.C.C.R. and of Collectivism). With relative silence and focus on internal development taking place within the U.C.C.R, which had been focusing much on the development of the capital of Melevorgrad at the time, verbal assaults and veiled condemnations were made against "communism" and socialism. The decision by the Eternal Leader was that of immediate reply and publication of propaganda which included both megaladon and Warlock Syzmo, denouncing their attempts to bait the U.C.C.R.

Following this, there was a series of denouncements and messages of support towards the U.C.C.R. mostly from Tyler of Charmont and Flat Face of Moria. The Jarl of Jotunstan, the city which Warlock Syzmo was second in command of, wrote to the Eternal Leader Melevor with a proposal to meet and discuss the tensions. Following a brief meeting in an undisclosed location the U.C.C.R. made an addendum to their earlier statement which falsely claimed that Jotunstan was attempting to colonise the continent of Arith through taking an island from the nation of Mirenirenic, an ally of the U.C.C.R, which had, in fact, been silently withdrawn by Jotunstanian officials. Although the tensions between Jotunstan and the U.C.C.R. had officially cooled some-what, the war of words continued between ardent Collectivists of the U.C.C.R. and Warlock Syzmo and megaladon, resulting in a duel between Folksgovernor of Hongseguo KindOfTiger_ and Warlock Syzmo, in which KindOfTiger_ slew Syzmo (who had shown up with no armour or weapons).

Ancient forces were at work when the revered Great Old Ones of the Swamp (as they are known to those who follow Ceiltean Druidism), or more commonly known the Swamp Men of Mud Town arose from their long slumber and visited the U.C.C.R. In Ceiltean mythology the Swamp Men are known as spirits which are ancient, wise and extremely knowledgeable. The visit of these entities to the city of Melevorgrad and to the Eternal Leader strengthened the position of the Government of the Union, with previous religious sceptics now fully sure of the approval of the Gods for Melevor's mandate to rule the Union into a glorious future. Before departing, the Swamp Men bestowed upon Melevor the great crossbow of Boogooyaga, an item personally owned by the Lord of the Swamps, Nugiberg.

Establishment of the Willowgladian C.C.R.
The city of Willowglade long remained dormant beside the much bustling and active capital of Melevorgrad. When signing their alliance of "Peace and Friendship", Leader of Mireirenic (the nation which had dominion over Willowglade) kevien12, agreed to gift the territories of Willowglade to the U.C.C.R. in the event that the city would collapse. Following the official collapse of the city on the 4th February 2022, Willowglade was officially welcomed as the third Collectivist Council Republic and plans had begun to entirely revitalise the island, establishing roads, a revolutionary square and formally resettling the regional capital of Willowglade.

Continuation of "Building Socialism" and Foreign Policy agenda
Throughout February and into March of 2022 the Union continued pursuing two key policies, "Building Socialism" and a Foreign Policy agenda geared towards improving international opinions of the Union. During this time an assassination attempt was made on the life of Melevor by Pact of the Immortal Blood assassin Twyst_ hired by Megadalon, but was unsuccessful. The Union at this time focused mostly on internal development and construction efforts in the capital with the construction of buildings such as the Folkscommissariat of Defense, and the Folkscommissariat of State Security from previously derelict buildings ruined during the Revolution.

Outside the Union efforts were being made to normalise the Union's relationship with the rest of the world and to undo attempts by the Alathran Anti-Communist League (AACL) to isolate and stigmatise the Union from the international community. Beginning with the Union's admittance to the Alathran International Assembly, by order of the Eternal Leader in his book "Let us work tirelessly for the normalisation and peace of the Union abroad" dictating to government officials, particularly those in the National Collectivist League the new position of the Government on diplomacy. Following this First Secretary of the League, Dedrich Collins, would undergo diplomatic missions and secure the establishment of embassies with the U.C.C.R.

Geography
The entirety of the U.C.C.R. resides in Western Arith, with the largest and most populous Council Republic being the Ceiltean Council Republic. The CCCR is between the two rivers of the Saile and the Darach and is covered mostly by forests and plains. There is a small plain to the east of Melevorgrad along the coastline which leads to the ruins of the town of Rafferty and the internal border between the Ceiltean C.C.R. and Willowgladian C.C.R. The second founded and less populous Council Republic is Hongseguo, which is comprised mostly of forests, rivers and mountains. The third Council Republic is Willowglade, which is characterised by its sand beaches and many islands. The Ceiltean and Honseguoan Council Republics are separated administratively by the Darach River while the city of Hongseguo is settled on the Hongse River.

Ecology
The U.C.C.R. is home to many different forests and different types of plant life including dark oak trees, birch trees, oak trees, jungle trees, bamboo and large mushrooms of both brown and red varieties. While Ceiltea formely had a jungle (which had been cut down to make way for mass farms) and now has only, a dark oak forest and a birch forest, Hongseguo has only birch and dark oak forests. The over-abundance of dark oak nearby, with Melevorgrad being on the site of a former dark oak forest, has led to the wood being highly popular for furniture and buildings within the Ceiltean CCR and throughout official government buildings in the rest of the U.C.C.R. The fauna of the U.C.C.R. includes the diverse range of cows, pigs, horses and parrots, with other species such as wolves being introduced from the lands south of Hongseguo as pets.

Administrative Divisions
The U.C.C.R. is divided into three administrative districts, those being the three Council Republics, although the former Ceiltean Administrative Divisions included seats for the four Provincial Lords of Ceiltea, this has been discontinued with the instatement of the Union and the appointment of Ronan Carrig as the Folksgovernor of Ceiltea.

Politics
The Union is a National Collectivist Republic, which focuses most, if not all power, into the hands of the Eternal Leader and General-Secretary of the National Collectivist League, who in turn decides to delegate certain positions to enforce his will throughout the state. There are two power hierarchies in the U.C.C.R: the legislature represented by the Supreme Council of the U.C.C.R, and the National Collectivist League, the only legal party and final policymaker.

The National Collectivist League
In reality, the National Collectivist League is the supreme body of power within the Union, being the sole political party and thereby appointer of representatives both to the Folkschamber, but also to the Folksgovernate (and by extension to the Folkspresdium) within the Union. All representatives within the various Republics are required to be members of the League and to abide by the Collectivist Charter and the policy of the League to run for their positions, while Folksecretaries and Folksgovernors are appointed by the Eternal Leader from within the party to govern the Republics and towns of the Union. At the top of the League there is the "Folkspresidium", a body which in reality is the main governing body of the Union and which is comprised of the most powerful members of the League and thereby the Union (such as Folksgovernors, Folkscommissars and Folksecretaries). The Folkspresidium is headed by the Eternal Leader, who has the title of General-Secretary of the National Collectivist League, and who is the ultimate decision maker of the body, with the other members in their positions delegated to pursue the will of the Leader.

Government
The position of Eternal Leader is an absolute one, vesting all powers in the hands of one man - following the "Great Leader Theory" set out in the Collectivist Charter, with supreme executive authority acting as the Head of State, Head of Government, Head of the Armed Forces and Head of the National Collectivist League.

The Government of the Union is split into two: the legislature, and the executive. The legislature (called the Supreme Council of the U.C.C.R.) is comprised of the upper house of the Folksgovernate and the lower house of the Folkschamber. Those who sit in the Folksgovernate are Folksgovernors of the different Republics and Folksecretaries of towns within those Republics, as well as the Folkscommissars of the different Folkscommissariats (Ministries). Those who sit in the Folkschamber are elected members of the National Collectivist League by their local constituents as representatives of their interests in the government.

In reality, the Legislature is a rubber-stamp of the Executive, which includes all those who sit in the upper house, and is entirely comprised of the members of the National Collectivist League's Folkspresidium which governs the entire nation. The Eternal Leader does not require the approval or consent both of the Supreme Council, or of the Folkspresidium and can pass any legislation he wishes without prior advice or approval.

Folkscommissars
The Government also includes (in the Executive branch) the various Folkscommissars, who are appointed as members of the National Collectivist League as senior Government Officials to oversee Folkscommissariats - or Ministries - in the name of the Eternal Leader. Members of the Folkspresidium and Folksgovernate.

Folksgovernors and Folksecretaries
Folksgovernors are appointed as members of the National Collectivist League as governors of the Republics of the U.C.C.R. to oversee the development of Republics and their constituent towns in the name of the Eternal Leader. Members of the Folkspresidium and Folksgovernate.

Folksecretaries are appointed as members of the National Collectivist League as governors of towns within the Republics of the U.C.C.R. to oversee specific towns in the name of the Eternal Leader. Members of the Folkspresiidum and Folksgovernate.

Foreign Relations
The U.C.C.R. is a state which usually keeps to itself due to the extreme hostilities it faces from much of the world due to it's ideology, though has a few notable friendships, alliances, partnerships and acquaintances across the world.

Arith
Being one of the most active states on Arith, the biggest continent on Alathra and the home to the U.C.C.R, the Union has a working relationship with all of the states on the continent. Formally in an alliance with Mirenirenic, and cooperative with both the F.C.A. and The Empire of Invicta. The U.C.C.R's most cold relationship with a power on Arith is with the F.C.A, as many citizens of the Union blame the F.C.A. for the defeat of the First Great War and are very much angered at the continued expansion of the Federation past the ruins of Xenoarcadia into what is referred to as Western Arith. Despite this, the U.C.C.R. maintains a working and amicable relationship with the F.C.A. with the vision of dealing with these problems in time.

The U.C.C.R. maintains very good relations with their neighbours from Mud Town, who they believe are ancient spirits who are both wise and powerful. The U.C.C.R. has a strong position against outside powers which may wish to settle on Arith, as does much of the wider continent.

Gaushan
The U.C.C.R. has little relationships with states on Gaushan, though the Eternal Leader has small connections to the monarchy of Stahlfaust, in which he resided for a small period of time between the fall of Pyrrhia and the establishment of Ceiltea. The U.C.C.R. is very friendly to the socialist city-state of Zauburg, sending well wishes to their leader and establishing a line of communication between the two socialist states.

Prospit
The most notable relationship that the U.C.C.R. has on Prospit it that with the Kingdom of Cresvlits, which was having its own crisis during the January Revolution, which Revolutionary Ceiltea subsequently supported socialist forces in, which did not succeed. Following the victory of Leuvis I relations deteriorated rapidly as Cresvlits denounced the U.C.C.R. and National Collectivism, causing many in the Union to hold disdainful views of the "bourgeois" democratic socialist Kingdom. This view became even more widespread after a public declaration from Cresvlits which hinted towards their wish for the world to take international action to destroy the Union.

Moria
The U.C.C.R, and their predecessor state the P.C.C.R. have had good relations with the people of the Fossores Republic since the establishment of Pyrrhus, and this has continued since. While the people of Fossores were in Arcadia the Eternal Leader kept up correspondence with President Flat Face, and when the Fossores Republic was re-established in early February 2022 the Eternal Leader was the first to congratulate the President and visit the newly established Fossoriea and sign an alliance with the Republic.

Ashina
The U.C.C.R. does not have any relationship with Ashina and has never interacted with any from the Ashinan Empire.

Koganon
The U.C.C.R. maintains communications with the Arcadian Altanate.

Economy
The economy of the Union is, in comparison to it's predecessor the P.C.C.R, liberalised and less controlled. The economy of the P.C.C.R. run on the basis of state controlled and engineered economics with redistribution through the Politburo of the Party, where the economy of the U.C.C.R. is run on the basis of freer markets with government regulations, protections and coercive controls to ensure the loyalty of corporations and other entities to the Union and the Collectivist system.

Following the principles of the Collectivist Charter, the Union is focused on the establishment of self-sufficient autarky, as a result of being banned from trading with various multinational corporations for ideological reasons and because of this the Union is extremely focused on economic development internally with the establishment of an internal market for many items such as enchanted books.

The Union does, however, have few trade partners, most prominent being the Union of Alathra Workers, which it is a member of and often trades with other private citizens who are members of the Union.

Exports
The export market of the U.C.C.R. is severely limited due to the isolated stance of the country, although construction of a national market in Melevorgrad with goods from across the Union open for international trade is under construction.

Imports
Due to the stance of the Collectivist Charter, Government and the attitude of many citizens within the country, imports are as limited as exports, following the ideal of Collectivist Autarky, the Union has strived to become entirely self-sufficient and independent from foreign markets as possible.

Production
The main production within the U.C.C.R. is that of building blocks, and in specific, stone, cobble and other types of stone blocks for the construction of buildings particularly in the capital city. The Union has a large reserve of wood from the deforestation around the capital and the building of the city walls. The Union has its own villager trading market which includes various enchanted books alongside a netherite mining operation for the National Folksarmy by the Quartermaster of the NFA.

Ceiltean
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Hongseguoan
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Ceilto-Willowgladian
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Languages
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Religions
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Gallery
Photos go here.

Towns

 * Melevorgrad
 * Carrig
 * Doire
 * Hongseguo