Atlantic Union

The Union of the Atlantic States, more commonly known as the Atlantic Union, is the historic predecessor to the present-day Federal Republic of Corraile. It came into being on 6 June 1957 with the unification of four previously separate British colonies: Corraile, State of Fairman Island, Territory of Stanraer Island and State of Colganston. The Atlantic Union, while being a single entity, consisted of several state governments under the centralised Union government in Highvale. The Union government coordinated state governance and served as the foreign representative of the territories to the United Nations and the British Commonwealth.

The Atlantic Union was founded as a dominion of the British Empire. It was governed under a form of constitutional monarchy, with the British monarch represented by a governor-general. The Union came to an end when the 1970 independence was enacted. On 21 August 1970 the nation became a republic, under the name of the "Republic of Corraile".

Constitution
With the creation of the Atlantic Union, a new constitution, the 1957 Constitution of the Atlantic Union, was adopted, replacing the direct rule established in the individual territories of the Atlantic Union that existed prior to World War II.

Main features
Like Canada and Australia, the Union was a federation, with state governments retained but coming under the immediate authority of the Central Government. A unicameral parliament was created, consisting of a Central House of Representatives, and its members were directly elected by the populations of individual states to represent each state in the House. During the course of the Union the franchise changed on several occasions often to suit the needs of the government of the day. Parliamentary Supremacy was entrenched and save for procedural safeguards the courts were unable to intervene in Parliament's decisions or policies.



Relationship to the Crown
The Union remained under the British Crown as a self-governing dominion of the British Empire, and was considered equal in status to the other Dominions. The Monarch was represented in the Atlantic Union by a Governor-General, while effective power was exercised by the Prime Minister (who was Head of Government). Bryan Harrison, formerly General of the British Corraile Army, was appointed first Prime Minister of the Union, heading a coalition of the Labour Party and the United Socialist Front. Prosecutions before courts were instituted in the name of the Crown and government officials served in the name of the Crown rather than the Union.

Final days and the creation of a Republic
Following a referendum on 6 May 1969, in which the majority of Corrailites (75%) voted in favour of a republic, the Union became the Republic of Corraile on 21 August 1970, joining the United Nations as an independent nation the following day. Subsequently the the Constitution of the Atlantic Union was replaced with the new Constitution of the Republic of Corraile, dissolving all state governments and consolidating all executive and legislative powers within the Central Government. The decision to transform from a Union to Republic was narrowly decided in the referendum held within Parliament, where 13 out of the 25 representative in the AU Central Parliament voting in favour of the creation of a Republic. Furthermore, a new flag, coat of arms and national symbols were adopted to replace colonial-era symbols.

Simplified administration
The administration of each individual Atlantic territory prior to World War II had been entirely separate from one another, which had complicated the management of the colonies because of the diminutive nature of each territory. This resulted in a lack of coordination regarding economic and social policies, as different states had different governments with different agendas. This lack of coordination regarding political direction manifested itself when Britain declared war on Germany in 1939, when only Corraile openly declared support for the Commonwealth in the war.

Therefore, when the war was over in August 1945, British administrators in the colonial office were keen to unify the territories to ensure political and economic unity in the area, which would be of benefit to the territories as well as the Empire as a whole, as it brought together a splintered and divided colonial administration, reducing cost and simplifying government structures. Furthermore, with the rise in Cold War tensions, unity was seen as important in helping to strengthen the territories in the face of a perceived Soviet threat in the region. Both factors made the Atlantic Union concept appealing and was approved by the British Government in late 1951 to be put into action.

Removal of trade barriers
Due to the disjointed political administration of the territories, trade barriers were enacted that acted as a stumbling block for the economic development of the region as a whole. Taxation and tariffs on goods from the separate states meant that trade was inhibited, which reduced the profitability of companies in the region. Since transshipment of local products through either Centreburg or Highvale was required, Corraile was able to profit off transshipment taxes that were levied on goods from other states, which incurred the resentment of the other states. Taxation rates on the goods of the other territories developed into a long-standing dispute which hampered cooperation and mutual development in the region. Thus, uniting the states was seen as important, if not essential, in preventing further conflict from arising.

Preparation for eventual decolonisation
Even before World War II, the British colonial office was already planning the eventual decolonisation of the Atlantic Territories into an independent nation. Due to the poor state of relations that existed between the different territories, merely granting the territories nominal independence under a federal system not unlike Canada or Australia was seen as unfeasible. Thus, to facilitate the transition process and prevent conflict, the unification of the states into a single entity was undertaken, with the British still retaining some form of influence in the affairs of the Union. It was hoped that through the Atlantic Union, the reasons preventing the formation of an independent, unified country (poor inter-territory relations, disjointed administration) would be overcome.

Formation
The four main constituent states of the Atlantic Union were founded and settled at different times, which meant that the territories came under separate governments and administration. Even so, the territories were highly dependent on each other by necessity, as smaller, more agrarian states such as Stanraer Island and Fairman Island needed access to the more developed industries and port facilities of both Colganston and Corraile in order to further their trading activities. Despite the high level of inter-dependency that existed between the states, relations were generally poor, as the states disputed trading terms and taxation rates, with the dependent states accusing the more developed territories as "over-exploiting their coffers", a sentiment which was exemplified by comments made by then-state minister of Fairman Island Gregory Mitchell to the Council of Ministers in 1934.


 * "Why do we sit back and let those b******* in Corraile and Colganston exploit the hard work and sweat of our workers just because we don't have a port? Don't they know how much we suffer just so they can profit?"

Due to the economic and strategic importance the territory was to the British Empire, it was considered necessary to unify the states so as to reduce conflict and further promote economic growth. Furthermore, the entirely separate and disjointed state of colonial administration in the states only served to increase cost and promote inefficient and bureaucratic measures. Thus, the merging of all British colonial possessions int the Atlantic decided upon by the British colonial office. Initial plans for the Atlantic Union, however, were interrupted by the outbreak of World War II in 1939.

With the cessation of hostilities, the plan was revived by the British Government as a means of preparing the territories for independence, and later with the Cold War, the consolidation of what was seen as a rather strategic region. In 1951, the British Government White Paper on the Union of Atlantic Territories was given the seal of approval by both the House of Lords and the House of Commons in London, and a referendum was conducted in Bermuda that same year to determine if Bermudians were supportive of joining the Atlantic Union. However, Bermudians rejected the proposal, which meant that the Atlantic Union was formed on 6 June 1957, consisting of Corraile, Stanraer Island, Fairman Island and Colganston.

Development
The formation of the Atlantic Union helped to accelerate industrialisation and economic growth within the Territories. By helping to remove trade barriers between the states and unifying economic policy under the domain of the Central Government, economic policy, especially those targeted at foreign investments, were refined and centralised, removing red tape and simplifying procedures that foreign companies had to undergo before investing in the country. This led to a significant rise in the total Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) that the country netted, from a combined total of US$3.4 million in 1956 to US$4.9 million in 1958.

Furthermore, the centralised structure of governance in the AU meant that developmental policies could be implemented throughout the country. In 1961, the Central Government launched the RRP (Rural Revitalisation Project, not to be confused with the separate Rural Revitalisation Programme started in 1971) to promote infrastructural development in rural regions. The Project resulted in the creation of the country's first Highways to support the flow of goods from the rural regions to the urban regions, as well as an increase in the mileage of roads that were paved (a 12.9% increase between 1961-1965). New major infrastructural projects were commenced as well. such as Centreburg Gateway International Airport and the Port of Centreburg.

Independence Referendum (1969)
In 1969, the British Commonwealth office, along with the executive cabinet of the AU, came to an agreement to grant the Union nominal independence. This was mainly due to the electoral promise of then-Prime Minister Sir Darren McGhurry to enable the Union to achieve independence. A March 1969 agreement between the Commonwealth office and the AU Government stated that the country would continue to maintain the federal system, consisting of the Central Government and the four State Governments, of the Atlantic Union. On this premise, a referendum was carried out on August 1969 throughout the entire Union to determine if the population was supportive of full independence from Great Britain, which resulted in over 80% supporting the move to become a fully independent state. Thus, a schedule of power-transition was drawn up and independence would be granted on 21 August the following year.

In February 1970, however, the AU House of Representatives met for the last time to vote on the creation of a unitary, highly centralised republic, which was a completely different arrangement as to what had been agreed upon the previous year. The new proposal also suggested that the new republic be called "Corraile", which was seen as highly contentious by representatives of the other states. Nevertheless, the proposal was passed by an extremely narrow margin of 13-12, and on 21 August, 1970, the Republic of Corraile came into existence, replacing the Atlantic Union as a sovereign entity and thus ending the British monarchy's rule over the country.