New Holland

New Holland is a country in the Tasman Sea. East of Australia and Queensland and West of New Zealand it is also a Former British Colony and a Member of the Alliance of Independent Nations.

Geography
New Holland is situated in the Tasman Sea. It is made up of 3 Main Islands on which 97% percent of the population is located. The rest of the country is made up of over 50 smaller Islands in the Tasman Sea. The Main Island is mostly useful land for farming for settlement. The south of the Island is Covered in Mountains as part of the Trend Range.

Maori Settlement
First evidence of settlement in New Holland was found in the southern portion of Van Diemen's Island. It is expected that Maori settlers arrived from Taranaki, New Zealand, with an estimated arrival of 1370 CE. Evidence of this settlement has been found near Karinga, Tasman, such as the Karinga Pa, a large settlement covering over 10km2 of land.

Mirinioan Settlement
Evidence of Mirinioan settlement in the northern Islands of New Holland dates back to 1400 CE. Several skulls and buried flax huts were found on Midset Island as well as rock drawings near Seddon .

European Discovery
The Islands of New Holland were first discovered by Abel Tasman in 1642 he named the islands after the province in the Netherlands. The Area was largely unexplored until James Cook returned in 1769 and mapped the entire coastline of New Holland.

Settlement
Settlement occurred in 1832 along with NZ. The colony progressed at a fast pace with over 10,000 settlers by 1840. New Holland became a Independent colony from New South Wales in 1851. The Representative Government was formed in 1852, in Victoria. The Colony of New Holland was organised into 8 provinces. They were responsible for the founding of settlements and keeping order in the colony. The first Prime Minister of New Hollandwas elected in 1857, after the first general election.

Gold Rush
Gold was discovered in the Silver River in 1876. This caused a Gold rush in the region with prospectors arriving from all over the world. The city of Cambridge experienced massive growth due to the gold rush as much of the profits were invested into the city. It also led to the development of the Gold Miners Council in 1879, who opened the first large scale mine in New Holland. Much of Cambridge is influenced by Gold rush era buildings and has a large heritage collection.

Dominion of New Holland
In 1907, after deciding not join the Australian Federation, the Colony gained Dominion status in the British Empire along with Australia, Canada and New Zealand. This gave more Autonomy to New Holland and more controls of its affairs.

World War I
The New Holland army sent soldiers to World War 1 to fight with the British. A small contingent of New Holland troops, as part of the QANHNZACs were sent to Gallipoli, the first major international engagement for New Holland in World War One. The remainder of the troops were sent to the German colony of Neu Westfalen. It was to be the defining moment of New Holland and Neu Westfalen society. The attack took place on 2 June 1916 the troops were to land and take the island quickly and with little casualties. However their was fierce German resistance. During the campaign there were over 8500 New Holland casualties and over 10000 Neu Westfalen casualties. Afterwards, the public seeing the heroism of their soldiers, there was a wave of national pride. Which gave impetus for the government to campaign for more sovereignty. This was ignored by the British Administration. In a settlement from the treaty of Versallies, New Holland recieved the colony of Neu Westfalen as a mandate. New Holland made sure that the citizens of Neu Westfalen were not punished by the angry society of New Holland.

Post-War
In the 1920's New Holland gained a more Liberal approach to foreign affairs and national security and decreasing its dependence from the UK. Neu Westfalen gained its Indepence in 1925, it remained part of the Realm of New Holland and was in free association until 1938. When  the depression hit in 1929. The Government tried to solve the problems by creating works projects and stimulating the local economy. New Holland did not fare to badly compared to others and recovered quickly.

World War II
When World War II arrived, the New Holland Army was sent to Europe to support the British. New Holland fought in Greece, Crete the Western Desert Campaign and the Italian Campaign. New Holland's special forces also saw action in North Africa and Italy, the Royal Service conducted espionage and reconnaissance missions during the war. Following Japan's entry into the war, the 4th Army was deployed into the Pacific. Homeland defense was also bolstered with an additional 3th Army units on stand-by. On the 10 September 1942, Imperial Japanese forces launched and amphibious invasion of New Holland. Along with bombing raids and submarine attacks, the Battle of New Holland severely hit the country. The amphibious invasion was focused on the Northern Islands of Mirani Province and Iles Losiel. The bombing raids were focused on Seddon, Victoria and Milford. The submarine attacks crippled the effectiveness of the navy, most of which were absent in other parts of the Pacific Theater. Troops were sent to Neu Westfalen during the war to ensure that security and order was kept as the the war raged on around them. Neu Westfalen remained neutral, but there was reports of citizens travelling to Europe during the war to assist the Nazis.

Post War
After the war when NZ, Australia and the US signed the ANZUS treaty, New Holland declined to join wanting to keep foreign influence out of the country. When Britain entered the European Economic Community, New Holland embarked on a liberal Free-Trade economy, in order to protect its economy and people. It made extensive deals with Neu Westfalen, becoming its closet ally. In 1947 Mirani began to reduce the amount of New Holland funding, this has reversed in recent years.

Golden Age of the Economy
Due to reforms made by respective governments, businesses in New Holland prospered. Many companies expanded operations internationally. This caused the living standards of citizens to rise. Many companies opened up business in New Holland due to legislation regrading tax incentives and cuts. Exports played a major part of this boom. Agriculture being the leading part, supplying the region with produce became easier after FruitCo. was formed in 1950. Manufacturing started to also play a role in the Economy, with companies like Alexo Automotive expanding internationally.

Rodger's Reign
In 1960 Rodger Fairman was elected Prime Minister of New Holland. His ideals of the New Holland society were extreme. He believed that in New Holland not signing any form of treaty that the nation was vulnerable to attack and invasion. He built up the nations military and increased the defense budget considerably. He also endorsed research into new advanced technologies. In 1967 after increasing tensions with neighbors, he was removed from office by the Governor General. He committed suicide in that year after being declared insane by doctors.

Post 1960's
Over the years Respective government have adopted a People First policy regarding the Economy and Foreign relations. There are constant referendums on upcoming laws and changes in government.

There is a high level of Public immersion in National politics. Citizens enjoy a high level of living and safety.

Government
The Government of New Holland is a Federal parliamentary democracy under constitutional monarchy, divided into seven provinces.

Queen of New Holland
New Holland shares a Monarch with Britain and the other Commonwealth Realms. The current Monarch is Elizabeth II.

Elections
General Elections are held every four years in New Holland. In the General Elections a new House of Representatives is elected and a Prime Minister appointed by the majority party. Provincial Elections occur every four years, 2 years from a General election. In these elections the Provincial houses are elected and National Senators elected to the Senate.

Economy
The Economy of New Holland focuses on exports of Produce and manufacturing. Business is also an integral part of the economy. Financial services in Oceania are centered around New Holland. Many large banking firms have offices in New Holland and these buildings dominante the Albany skyline.

Transport
Transport in New Holland is a extensive, well maintained network. Centered mostly on road and highway networks, most people own personal cars. Rail is a large part of urban transit and Intercity express transit. Ferry Transport is a large part of the Transport infrastructure, with International and Domestic services.

Road
The Roads of New Holland are maintained by NHTA. The National Arterial Network connects all of the major towns and cities of New Holland. The roads must meet a certain grade and receive funding according to importance and traffic volume.

Rail
New Holland Rail operates all rail services in New Holland. Rail is an integral part of the New Holland transport infastructure. There is over 10,000 km of railway in New Holland, over 1,000 km of which is electrified. The major rail services in New Holland operate between the main centres. These are high-speed inter-city trains specialised for quickly moving passengers between cities. The most active line in the country, the New Holland Trunk Line, runs the length of the country from Seddon Via Victoria and Albany to Cambridge. It is the longest and fastest line in the country. Urban and Short distance Transit is more utilized than Intercity. All of the major lines are electrified by overhead lines. The Victoria-Seddon line is a third rail system. Freight Rail in New Holland is one of the mainstays of the economy. It is the main transporter of goods from factories to export facilities. Most of New Holland can be accessed by Freight rail, making it a suitable option for transport. The Overland freight line, from Albany to Milford, travels around some of New Holland's highest peaks, making it the highest railway by altitude in AIN. It is a frequently used line and there are several incidents each year.

Investment in Rail
The New Holland Government is investing over NH$3 billion into the nations rail networks. The first major project was the Albany-Victoria express line. When opened, it will be the fastest line in the country and one of the biggest engineering feats in New Holland's history. It will have 20 tunnels, 5 viaducts and 32 bridges cutting through the challenging terrain of the Trend Ranges. It will be a electrified relatively straight line which is expected to promote rail travel in New Holland. The line will run new, specially engineered Jiantou Jisheou 200+ from Okatabawashi.

All passenger trainsets in New Holland will progressively be replaced in the next 5 years. Deals have already been signed with Okatabawashi and Kingston and Boyce in supplying these replacements. Takyoto also recently entered the negotiations recently. A new factory is being built in Seddon by CARTERrail of Kingston and Boyce. It will produce new freight sets for the New Holland and Oceanian market.

Military
New Holland has 20,000 active personnel and 150,000 reserve. New Holland Maintains several Mutaul defense pacts. These include the Liberal Monarchist Bloc, Queensland Pact and soon to be announced QNNDP. It was part of the RIFNHM Mutual Defense and Economic Pact.

Ground Forces
New Holland maintains a reasonably large military force for the region and its size. The Army is divided into Provincial Corps the largest being the Lancaster Corps, with 55,604 soldiers. The Army is equipped with a large amount of equipment and vechicles. The army receives research funds to design and produce new equipment and technology.

Naval Forces
The Navy consists of 13 primary role vessels.

Air Forces
The Royal New Holland Air Force consists of 50 Squadrons. 10 of these Squadrons are F-18 equipped and maintain security in the Pacific and Tasman. The RNHAF has 4 Airbus A-300Ms on order due to replace the ageing C-130s currently used.