Illium Kingdom

The Illium Kingdom (Latin: Empirius Illius), officially named Her Majesty the Queen's Illium Kingdom, often referred to as simply "Illium" is an Constitutional Monarchy lead by Queen Skylar Elizabeth Sariah, daughter of the late Queen Alexandra Lynn Sariah II. Illium consists of 6 Provinces. Five of them, Callia, Serenity, Helios, Dallas, and Capital provinces are on the mainland, while Morningstar Island is it's own province. The Empire is located on the Kerguelen II subcontinent (located northeast of the Kerguelin Contenent occupied by the Republic of Asgard).

The Illium Kingdom joined the Alliance of Independant Nations in November 2012.

Geography & Climate
The Empire is a subcontinent located in the Indian Ocean. Each Province generally has unique topography.

Discovery
Around August of 1627 (this date is contested as the ships logs were lost prior to the Atlas' arrival to port. Some scholars believe it may have been closer to winter than previously thought), Captain Julian Athoss of the East India Company was blown more than a thousand kilometers off course from normal trading routes by a freak storm. His ship, the Atlas, was severely damaged and taking on water. When the storm passed and the damage assessed, the exhausted crew saw no hope of recovery. After a day adrift (the sails were essentially destroyed by the storm), and listing to port, the helmsman, Jean-Claude Frostman, spotted land off the port bow. With renewed vigor, the crew of the Atlas all loaded into remaining shore boats and towed the limping Atlas towards land. Captain Athoss deliberately waited until high tide to run she ship aground in the soft beaches of what is now the Atlas Beach. After days of repairing the ship and her sails, the Atlas once again set sail back to India... without half of her crew. The first officer, Jerrod Sevris Callia, did not believe the ship seaworthy, and convinced many of the crew and passengers to refuse to sail back. Captain Athoss reluctantly left Callia and his men with a meager amount of supplies and sailed north.

Colonization
When the Atlas' report of a new land made it back to King Charles I in early 1629, he funded large colonization efforts. He commissioned Sir Andreus Illius Sariah II to head the first expedition to this new land. On 8 May 1630, Sir Sariah II, sailing the ships Feros, Kirkson and Parral, landed in what is now the port city of Callia. He claimed the land Illium, under the British Crown, with himself as Governor. A few weeks later, Sir Sariah's crew found the encampment of the crew of the Atlas a few kilometers inland. They had somehow survived, and even built some buildings and a farm. The tiny town, named Callia after their leader, helped Sir Sariah gain a foothold in the area.

King Louis XIII also commissioned several expeditions to the land. Sir Jean-Luc Pierre-Claud landed along the Thessia River inlet, claiming a colony under the French Crown. He and his expeditionary crew establish Thessia. Their farms flourished in the rich soil of the Helios River Basin.

The Dutch also claimed what is now Morningstar Island, following navigator Alexi Spoor's expedition to the area.

Unification
Following the French and American revolutions, the colonies grew restless of the intense oppression of the European Monarchs. On 15 June 1799, the better supplied British colony of Illium declared independence from the crown. The French colony of Thessia offered to join Illium in it's declaration of independence in trade for much needed food and supplies following a devastating storm. After a short war, also known as the Morning War, with both France and Britian, the crowns of both countries relinquished hold of the colonies. Once the colonies were on their own, Lord Francis Sariah XI declared Thessia and the Dutch colony of Morningstar as a province of the country of Illium.

The city of Callia was burned to the ground after a blitz by the British navy. Illium City, established on the southern end of the continent, became Lord Francis Sariah's temporary capitol. After the war, Lord Sariah XI never returned to Callia, opting to expand Illium City rather than move the capitol again. The discovery and subsequent colonization of Asgard helped cement this, since Asgard was closer to Illium City on the south end.

Civil War
In June of 1801 Thessia, unhappy to have one crown replaced with another, attempted to renounce Illium as it's ruler. Lord Sariah XI severed supply routes to Thessia in an attempt to starve the colony. The better supplied and Illium overpowered the French descendants. To keep another uprising from happening, Lord Sariah XI established a parliamentary system of government. The royal families would have rule over their established provinces, but fall under a single crown, House Sariah. House Pierre-Claud took over the Thessia Province (later renamed the Helios Province), House Spoor took over Morningstar Island, as well as the newly established plains city of New Dallas, House McTavish took over the Callia Province, and house Sariah took over the newly established Capitol Province. The mining city of Northfire City, governed by Dominik Zietzev, requested to become a colony. Lord Sariah XI granted Zietzev's request, naming him Lord Dominik Zietzev, effectively establishing House Zietzev. Lord Sariah XI named himself King of Illium. Following the formation of the Sariah Crown government, the establishment of a Parliament, Upper House of Lords and Lower House of Commons began to take place. By 1805, the newly written constitution was ratified and placed into effect after a period of political turmoil. This is generally referred to as the First Revision.

Expansionism
In the mid 1800s, Illium began an aggressive expansionism campaign after the entire country had been colonized and zoned. The vast untapped natural resources of Illium allow for the construction of one of the world's largest navies. The rough seas of the South Indian Ocean helped train Illium's sailors to become hardy and experienced masters of the sea.

By 1875, Illium held colonies in nearly every continent. In the Americas, Illium had colonies in both the Aleutian and Caribbean Islands, and a large port in what is now Southeastern Brazil. In Africa, Illium held colonies on both the eastern and western sides of the continent, including competing the Ivory Coast. In Asia, Illium colonies in India competed with British colonies, especially near New Delhi trade routes. North of Hong Kong, another Illium colony ferociously competed with the British influence in Hong Kong. On the extreme western coast of Australia, the Kartha'an colony was established, and is one of the only remaining territories of Illium.

With the holdings of these colonies, Queen Katherine Sariah I changed the official name of Illium to the Illium Empire, in an attempt to bolster Illium's image to the rest of the world.

World Wars I & II
During World War I, The Illium Empire supplies both Allied and Central powers with basic humanitarian aid, but covertly militarily supports the Allied Powers, especially Great Britain. The Empire does not officially join in either side, and avoids direct combat.

After World War I, the reigning government saw the realizations of what could happen when one person or group had two much power, and re-wrote the constitution (generally referred to as the Second Revision) in late 1919.

World Financial Crisis sends American stock market crashing in October of 1929. The Empire feels a major economic blowback from the crash. Unemployment skyrockets to over 20%. Free Suffrage Act enacted in 1936. Anyone over the age of 17 may vote, so long as they are legal citizens of the Illium Empire, one of her colonies, or territories. Queen Alexis II launches the Illium Citizenship Aide Campaign (Similar to the American New Deal) in 1938, which begins an overhaul of the transportation and public services system of the entire Empire. The Inter-regional Highway system is built.

Red-White Concordat is signed on 3 December 1940, at the start of World War II. The Illium Empire Pledges to openly support Allied forces. Japanese attempt to bomb naval heart of the Empire in Callia on the 7th of January, 1942. Less than half the Japanese bombers reach the Port. Only moderate damage is done to infrastructure, thanks to advanced warning and sheer luck. The Americans spotted the force, and warned the Empire a day ahead of time. Most of the Royal Navy was out to sea and avoided attack. WWII ends with Allied victory, with the combat death toll under 150,000 for the Empire.

Regression of Colonial Power
Following World War I, The Illium Empire could no longer hold it's colonies around the world. Indian and Chinese colonies rebelled and declared independence at the same time in April 1920. The Brazilian colony followed shortly afterwards in July 1920. The already strained resources of the Illium Royal Navy and the costs of World War I forced the Illium Empire to abandon the idea of re-taking the colonies by force. Instead, Queen Alexandra Sariah II decided to send what remaining warships she had to the Aleutian colony, and allow the Asian and South American colonies to be on their own. Following the loss of colonial standings, The Illium Empire ceased being an Empire, and returned to it's former standings as a Kingdom.

Kartha'an colonials were all native Illians to begin with, so they never had a need or desire to rebel. There were no native people in the area.

At the time of this writing, Kartha'an and Aleutia are the only non-mainland territories of Illium. These territories are included in the government, allowed to vote, and have the option of becoming Illium Citizens.

Nuclear Age & Space Race
The Empire's first nuclear weapon is tested, with American and British oversight, on 3 May 1956. Shortly after, in 1959, Illium National Space Contingency is founded. INSC Successfully launches a satellite into orbit a year later. In 1965, the Zues Program begins. The first Illium citizen, Doctar Liara T'Soni is launched into space. She spends 27 hours in space. In 1969, the first Illian unmanned moon survey mission begins. Dr. T’soni is the first Illium Citizen, and the only woman to date, to walk on the surface of the moon on the 1st of January 1970.

The Origins spacecraft is launched in September 1979, in hopes of mapping the surface of Mars.

Queen Alexandra Lynn Sariah enacted the Technology Advancement Act in March of 1998, which allows for the research and development of advanced dangerous technologies as long as they are done more than 150km away from any population centers with a population of over 500 people. In early 1999, Greystone Industries takes advantage of the TAA, and begins construction on the Greystone Research Center (GRC) in the southern Serenity Mountains, focusing on antimatter research. The GRC is completed in late October 2001. Research on antimatter soon begins. Greystone Industries is determined to develop efficient space travel, and start a station on the moon and put a man on Mars by 2020. So far, they are ahead of schedule, with 3 unmanned trips to Mars, supported by the INSC.

On 18 July 2003, in the second largest terrorist strike in Illium History to date, Al Qaida operatives infiltrate the Ministry of Defense and detonate a bomb inside the building, killing 451 people. The act is dubbed The Blood Morning Incident. Illium joins the United States and NATO in the War on Terror, deploying over 20,000 troops to support the US invasion of Iraq and 55,000 troops to weed out Al Qaida in Afghanistan.

With the Iraq conflict drawing down in 2010, Illium recalls 18,000 troops from Iraq and 50,000 from Afghanistan, leaving only token support forces. This was branded as a withdrawal from the war on terror.

Original Constitution
The constitutional monarchy system worked well for the first century following the overthrowing of European monarchs in 1799, thanks to a high proportion of capable monarchs, a continuously growing population, and a very fortunate commercial position in the Indian Ocean. The Constitution contained a clearly defined Declaration of Human Rights, which follows into the second revision of the constitution in 1919, after the end of World War I. The original constitution gave generous powers to both the Crown and the House of Lords, and while there were some minor limitations, the domestic and foreign policies were effectively at the whim of the Crown and House of Lords. The House of Commons had very little say in domestic policies and virtually no say in foreign policies. This worked well for the first hundred or so years, since the nation as a whole was more focused on growing and expanding than internal politics.

"Second Revision" Constitution
The rewriting of the Constitution (commonly called the Second Revision) happened after World War I, when the House of Commons witnessed what could happen when a single person or group. This led to the establishment of General Elections, tighter restrictions on both the Crown and the House of Lords, as well as the establishment of the law stating that the Heir to the Crown must marry a commoner. The Second Revision also saw the official formation of government Parties. The Second Revision put into effect the policy of voting in a reigning government consisting of the Prime Minister, Lord of the Exchequer, Home Minister, Minister of Trade and the Foreign Secretary, the latter three were major offices introduced and created by the Second Revision of the Constitution. These five positions generally control the political direction of the Kingdom of Illium. They parties that hold these positions are effectively known as the Government and the the parties that do not are referred to as the Opposition. The ruling Government must be nominated by the House of Lords and approved by the House of Commons in General Elections. The General Elections are held every five years. The next general election (at the time of this writing) will be in January of 2020, with campaign periods authorized to start in July of 2018, 18 months before the election. The Electorates will be seated three months after the General Election is held, on March 1st of 2020.

The Second Revision also gave the House of Commons more power, especially with the ability to reject the national budget plan. This effectively gave the House of Commons a way to freeze the Government and House of Lords if they tried to bully policies past the Lower House. The Second Revision also gave power to the House of Commons by restricting the ability of the Crown and House of Lords to create and seat new Peers. The Second Revision further restricted the House of Lords by restricting their growth to no more than 10% between general elections.

Parliament
The Illium Kingdom currently has a bicameral Parliament, consisting of the Upper House of Lords and the Lower House of Commons. Both houses have the power of self-veto (one is able to cancel resolutions of the other). The reigning monarch, whose office is officially marked as The Crown, also has the power of veto and can introduce legislation to Parliament. The Parliament holds General Elections every five years. While the House of Lords "rules" the country, their policies and and political reach is limited by the House of Commons' vote. Officially, the reigning Government cannot be directly impeached by the House of Commons. The removal of the Government can only be initiated by fellow members of the House of Lords. The Crown can refuse to formally approve a Government Official, such as a Prime Minister Elect, but this can lead to a constitutional crisis, since there is no current precedent on what to do if this situation occurs. Removal of the Government cannot fall to the crown, but the House of Lords has a general tendency to follow the direction of the House of Commons since it is their vote that is needed in the General Elections to place them in office.

Upper House of Lords
The Upper House of Lords consists of 192 Nobles, all Peers of the Realm. There are 268 Peers currently holding Nobility status, but the 70 or so that are not seated were either voted out of the House, or never seated in the first place. While the Crown can grant noble titles with the approval of the House of Commons, Peerage alone does not guarantee a seat in the House of Lords. The Upper House must vote in, or "seat", a Peer with a two-thirds vote. After the Second Revision, the Upper House was restricted even further, with the constitution stating that the Upper House of Lords cannot, under any circumstances, increase or decrease it's size by more than 10% between general elections. It is a requirement that a member of the House of Lords be at least 25 years old and have been a natural born citizen of the Kingdom of Illium. While not an official rule, the House of Lords does not elect candidates for major public offices to anyone who has been in the House of Lords for less than five years.

The division of power between political parties is very slow to change in the Upper House, as seated Lords generally do not change their stance, and hold their position for life or until it's expelled or resigned. In the event of death, resignation or removal, the succession of the seat is at the hereditary discretion of the Noble Family. The new member must still be approved. If denied, another member of that Noble Family must be voted in. If denied a second time, that seat is removed from the Upper House altogether, and that Noble Family's new candidate cannot be voted back in until after the next general election.

The Upper House has power over the Lower house by effectively having complete control over the top government offices, except the office of the Home Minister, which must be from the House of Commons.

Lower House of Commons
The Lower House of Commons consists of 335 elected officials; 3 senators from each province (36 total) and an elected representative from each Parliamentary Zone (299 current zones) based on population. These elected officials are presided over by the Home Minister. The House of Commons generally focuses on domestic issues, leaving the Government they elected into position in control of the foreign policies. The division of power between political parties madly fluctuates between general elections. Elected Officials can be investigated and subsequently expelled or suspended by both the Crown or fellow Lower House members. The Upper House cannot initiate an investigation on members of the Lower House without approval of both the Crown and the Lower House. The Senators from each province can hold office for no more than 3 consecutive terms (15 years) and five total terms (25 years) and the Representatives from the Parliamentary Zones can only hold office for two terms (10 years), consecutive and total. In the event of death, resignation or removal from office, the House of Commons will hold an emergency vote to decide which member of the current Parliament will hold the vote of both their own and the absent member until the next election period. Generally, senators from the same province are voted to hold the absent position as well as their own, and Zone Representatives from nearby zones are voted to hold absent ZR position as well as their own. This effectively gives that elected official two votes in Parliament. Under no circumstances can an elected official hold the position past the next general election.

The House of Commons holds power of the House of Lords with the ability to reject the national budget, forcing the Upper House to agree with the Lower House or risk a government shutdown. The Lower House has further control over the House of Lords with the ability to reject the introduction of new Peers by the Crown.

The Cabinet
The role of managing government services in the Kingdom is handled by the Royal Council, informally called the Cabinet. The Cabinet, comprised of the Prime Minister, individual ministers selected by the ruling government parties, the Lord Prince Seal and the Heir of the Throne, with the current monarch presiding. The Crown "officially" reigns over the Kingdom through the Cabinet, but the monarch traditionally heeds the advice of his or her ministers.

The Prime Minister is traditionally a member of the House of Lords, and has to maintain a majority in that house; a majority in the House of Commons was also advisable, though not entirely necessary if supported enough by the House of Lords. The Prime Minister and the Cabinet essentially set the economic, financial, and foreign policies. The Crown generally introduces what a national budget should be, but only the Lords could introduce actual legislation in that regard. The budget must be agreed upon on by both Houses. This has, at times, caused the budget resolution to go past their respective deadlines, and resulted in three government shutdowns in since 1950. Fortunately, they were all short lived.

The Crown
The Crown has the power to grant amnesty and commute punishment. With the approval of the House of Lords, it designates ministers and judges. The Crown can expand Constitutional law by its delegates in the Royal Court with the support of both Houses. It also has the power to grant noble titles, but a nobleman cannot become a peer without the agreement of the House of Commons, and may not be seated in the Upper house of Lords without a 2/3 vote in by the House of Lords. The Crown has Veto Power over ministers selected to the cabinet by the House of Lords. Unfortunately, if the Crown does not formally accept the newly elected ministers (which is legal, but not generally supported) in opposition to the vote of the House of Lords, this can cause a constitutional crisis. This happened once after the Assassination of Prime Minister David Hawkins and his successor, the First Lord Alex Cesjani, in August of 1998. The Opposition (at the time were the Liberal Party, Conservative Association and Progressives) elected to overrule the Crown's suggestion of a new Prime Minister from the Crown Loyalists and Centrists parties [See "Political Parties"], who were, at the time, the ruling government. The Crown refused to swear in a Prime Minister from the Opposition until the political agenda reached a compromise. The Conservatives and Liberals did not last long, as their political ideas did not match up, and the next general election in 2000 seated another Prime Minister from the Crown Loyalists.

Constitutional Guarantees
The main guarantee for the common people against abuse or exploitation, is the ability of the House of Commons to refuse the annual budget, as well as a Constitutional statement that the Prime Minister has to have the support of a majority in the House of Lords, and lastly the power of Parliament to depose the monarch.

The Crown, as with most monarchies, can be deposed for committing a crime or losing the ability to reign, as for instance through mental or physical disability. However, the Illium Kingdom's system went further: an investigation on the Monarch could be started for any reason, including allegations of high crimes, if two-thirds of the House of Commons agreed. The House of Lords itself could not initiate such an investigation without a two-thirds approval from the House of Commons. Covert, or "Black" investigations can only be initiated by the Crown Bench Judiciary Courts if the resulting charge is for Treason or another capital punishment, and can only remain covert for no more than 12 months or the remaining time until the next general election, whichever is shorter. To date, there have been no known covert investigations on the Crown.

Lastly, to ensure that the Crown does not lose contact with the common person, the heir to the throne can marry only a commoner, unless voted upon by a three-quarter vote in the House of Commons and a two-thirds vote in the House of Lords.

Political Parties
The political parties that emerged are based on old factions from the founding of the Kingdom, but they differed in their ideological visions. They strengthened their structure and power for some time and began to find allies in the House of Commons. The leaders of the parties were almost always from the Lords, with the exception of the Progressive Alliance, who's leader traditionally hails from the House of Commons

The five major are the Centrist Party, the Crown Loyalist Party, the Liberal Party, the Conservative Association, and the Progressive Alliance. Each party generally has varied ideals and political agendas. Typically, the Centrists and Crown Loyalists can be found running together, the Liberal Party and Progressive Alliance have similar agendas and the Conservative Association stands on it's own in a majority of elections.

Centrist Party
The centrists are currently the largest political block in Parliament, though they do not command a majority by themselves. Centrists are fiscal and social conservatives, believing in slow instead of sweeping change and strongly opposing deficit spending. They are also firm backers of the military, and generally approve large military budgets.

Crown Loyalist Party
The Crown Loyalists political views can easily be inferred by their name; they believ in backing a strong executive branch, specifically that of the ruling monarch. While they are not "yes-men" to the monarch, the Crown Loyalists tend to express their differing views to the Crown in private in order to show unwavering party support in public. They tended to share the Centrists' view on foreign policy but are even more fiscally conservative, especially on tax rates. Crown Loyalists generally have troubles reconciling support for a strong military and mostly to high military spending, especially during peacetime.

Liberal Party
The Liberal Party's political ideology is a form of moderate socialism, espousing the ideas of a government style which equalizes the population economically and politically. They are opposed to military and defense spending, preferring to allocate the budget more towards human services and relief and are largely disinterested in foreign policy, having a strong dislike for anything that resembles "imperialism." The Liberal Party have often been labeled as isolationists and in extreme cases even xenophobic. The Liberal Party is the second largest party currently in Parliament. The Liberals strongly support human rights, and while they oppose military spending, the Liberals will almost always be quick to intervene in human rights offensive governments, in places such as impoverished Africa and South America. The Liberals will generally put their principles over political pragmatism, which, for the most part, has kept them from keeping a coherent ruling government together for too long.

Conservative Association
The Conservative Association values power and privilege, seeking to enhance the power of the nobility. Their foreign policy is generally isolationist, seeing involvement in foreign affairs as risky and dangerous. They are moderate backers of the military, as they believe a reasonably strong military is needed to police the borders and protect the Kingdom's profitable trade routes in the Indian Ocean. Immigration is almost always at the forefront of the Conservative Association's political agenda, including the policy to deport any illegal immigrant regardless of application status for things such as work visas, asylum and citizenship. Generally, Conservatives are regarded as always on a "soap box" or "high horse", and assume a "holier-than-thou" attitude. The Conservative association is the smallest party in Parliament, and have effectively ceased operations after the fallout of the constitutional crisis in 1998 and subsequent collapse of the Descroix government [1998-2000]. The Conservatives currently only hold about 5% of the seats in Parliament at the time of this writing.

Progressive Alliance
Most Progressives share the Centrist Party's fiscal conservatism, but are generally more concerned with domestic politics than foreign affairs. This results in a rather ambiguous and simple foreign policy. Generally, when approached with problems from large governments, such as the United States or European Union, Progressives head for a more appeasement-oriented approach on foreign policy.

The Progressive Alliance usually wants a better balance between social programs and military spending. They tend to share the Liberals' views on domestic issues, with their unwillingness to accept deficit spending as one notable exception. They oppose the thought of liberal deficit-spending getting out of control believing it leads to political corruption. Unlike the Liberals, the Progressive Alliance is not generally isolationists. While they oppose the idea of Imperialism and territorial expansion, they do understand the need for spheres of influence, and generally support building those spheres in the interest of generating revenue from trade.