Albaterra

The Republic of Albaterra, (Portuguese: República da Albaterra): Is a landlocked nation located on the continent of Avalonia. Formerly a colony of Jungastia, Albaterra has been independent since 1979. Though the country is officially considered a Republic, Leonardo H. Sapateiro has been the leader of the country since before independence. Freedom of speech and freedom of the press are not guaranteed and human rights are regularly violated in the name of Law & Order. Religion plays a big role in Albaterra and The Catholic Church has large influence and sway over the population in the country and criticizing it can lead to fines and prison time. The Church has ruled Albaterra side by side with Leonardo since 1979. Making the entire country a form of semi-Theocracy. Because of this, The Church of Albaterra has a very large impact on what becomes law and what doesn't.

Discovery(1551)
Albaterra was first discovered when settlers from the north moved southward away from the northern coast. Following the river that goes through the land they were able to keep contact and trade with the main part of the colony by the northern coast. Jungastia expansion in the area was done slowly and with relative calm to begin with. Expansion was done more or less naturally as the population increased and more colonists arrived from the home country. With the thick rain forest the exploration southwards was done at a very slow speed. Because the expansion south was deemed too slow. The King of Jungastia issued a royal decree to increase the speed of the expansion southward and find land that was good enough to suffice for a permanent settlement. This settlement was going to become the local administrative center to support further expansion in the area. The King of Jungastia saw fit to task General Antonio Baptista to handle the exploration and expansion southward.

Colonization(1552-1600)
Colonization picked up speed after Antonio Baptista was appointed to lead the exploration into these new lands. Being tough and ruthless, he was the perfect man for the job. The details of his exploration into the unknown are very popular in modern Albaterra and are regularly praised for being "proof of the enduring spirit of the Albaterran people" and the hardship that the colonists faced when first settling the country. Not wanting to go through the rain forest, Antonio decided to move inland by boat. Packing all the supplies on small boats they set off on their mission and sailed inland. The first few stops proved mediocre at best but at the end of the river was a great lake. They stopped their boats and set up a camp for the time being to explore the surrounding area further. The landscape was beautiful and completely untouched by civilization.

After months of exploration and mapping out the surrounding area the military camp had evolved into a small town with colonists and even women and children moving to the new settlement. Antonio later named the new city Cidade Baptista which is the current Capital of Albaterra. The local native population were initially very welcoming to the colonists and trade between the two was flourishing. The first few years were very peaceful but trade was kept at a minimum. That soon changed when a series of events caused tensions to rise so high that war broke out between the colonists and the natives. Nobody really knows what exact events caused tensions to rise between the two groups, though there are theories as to what caused it, these include aggressively trying to convert the natives to Catholicism, Antonio willingly increasing tensions to secure his own position and more.

In the year of 1555 the first group of missionaries arrived to the colonial settlement and were quickly sent out to the nearby native tribes, in an attempt to convert the local population to Catholicism and establish diplomatic relations with the natives. Antonio Baptista personally sent the request for missionaries since he himself was a devout catholic. Burning with devotion, Antonio was disgusted at the sight of heathens and it is said that he regularly cursed them whenever he saw them. Antonio would be the start of the rising tensions between the colonists and the natives in the area. Antonio is believed to be the main reason for the high tensions between the colonists and the native population, this would later lead to The Holy War of Albaterra. Antonio would continue to forcefully convert the natives in the region throughout his reign as the first Governor-General.

War With the Natives(1560-1601)
The tensions between the colonists and the native population would grow so high that it would eventually cause the The Holy War of Avalonia. The war was an unofficial "crusade" against the pagan natives in the area after peaceful conversion was deemed ineffective. The crusade is considered unofficial because it was not sanctioned by any high-ranking religious leader in the Catholic Church. The crusade was only sanctioned by local religious leaders, largely influenced by Antonio Baptista who himself was one of the first to call for a Crusade to either fully convert or subjugate the native population. While the war is refereed to as one single long war. The war was more of a collection of several small, shorter wars & battles between the settlers and the natives. Unlike one large war in which both warring parties were at constant war with each other. There were times of total war and times of relative peace as shown by the fact that there were several periods during the 40 years were no battles were fought at all between the two warring parties.

Historians agree that the war could have been ended several times with a sizable victory for the colonists. Had only the colonial government accepted anything else but a complete surrender and later the enslavement of the entirety of the native population under Jungastian rule the war would not have lasted as long as it did. But because of the fact that total victory was the only goal that would satisfy the Noble class the war was dragged out for several more years filled with uprisings and great resistance from the civilian native population which caused tensions to rise even higher. This resistance would lead to several devastating and brutal Pogroms against the Native People of Albaterra.

The Politics of The War
The war enjoyed great popularity with both nobles, merchants, the clergy, and commoners alike back home in Jungastia. The nobles saw many benefits with the war, these benefits were things such as the ability to buy cheap land and acquire prestigious titles from the state, the possibility to procure slaves and a much more unstable government which made corruption much more widespread and allowed the nobles to do whatever they pleased as long as their wealth & power was big enough. The merchants saw great opportunity in the commercial navy that would be needed to keep a colony running. Goods had to transported between the two places. This is of course followed by many things such as the need for more ships, the need for more seamen, etc. All great things for the urban merchant class.

The clergy, while not the most sizable group of people saw the possibility to spread Catholicism to new corners of the world. Being far away from any sort of established government the local clergy in Albaterra was under the control of the local noble, this made the priests nothing more than a propaganda machine for the noble they were living under. The commoners saw several "benefits" with the colonization and the war in Albaterra, mostly due to propaganda. These benefits included things such as, a chance for them to start a new life with their families, the chance to prove themselves in the crusade against the heathens and receive their reward in wealth and honor, opportunity to advance farther up the social ladder than what was possible in Jungastia and much more. Whether these things actually happened was a different story. There was the occasional peasant that rose to the rank of mayor for a town and so on, but the vast majority of commoners who traveled to Albaterra seeking a better life was only met with war and a more corrupt noble elite than what was seen in Jungastia.

Politics & Government
Albaterra is a  and the Honorable President is the Head of State. The first and current President of Albaterra is Leonardo H. Sapateiro, who has been President since the country gained it's independence in 1979. With the help from The Church of Albaterra and The People's Democratic Party, Leonardo has been in firm control of the country ever since. The 1981 Constitution of Albaterra gives the Honorable President great power over the government. These powers include things such as dismissing and appointing cabinet members at will, issuing laws without a vote, immunity from prosecution, dissolving the parliament, the ability to instate martial law at any moment and much more. These extensive powers effectively makes the country a legal dictatorship.

During the 40 years of his rule, Leonardo has shown little toleration for opposition and none of the elections since independence has been considered fair or democratic by international standards. Government toleration of different opinions is believed to barely have changed at all since Leonardo first became the leader of Albaterra in the 70's. This attitude is very likely to remain as government policy against opposition for as long as Leonardo remains Honorable President of Albaterra. Leonardo and his regime has also faced criticism from other countries for allowing (and even sanctioning) the continuous oppression of the native population in the country by both public officials and private individuals.

In Albaterra the Honorable President is elected by the people in a general election every 7 years. Current Honorable President Leonardo is serving his 7th 7-year term and has won every general election with a landslide since the first one was held in 1979. The latest of these elections were the 2014 Albaterran General Election. While freedom of speech is protected under the law, it is not enforced when it comes to other political parties and different political opinions. Freedom of the press is also protected under the law, however almost all of the media is either state owned, owned by a member of Leonardo's family or by The People's Democratic Party. This makes the entire media nothing more than a propaganda machine for the state. With the increased usage of social media, corruption has been exposed on local levels of government, causing several politicians to be removed from the ruling party and of their position.

The political repression of pagan and native peoples in the Republic of Albaterra has largely remained the same throughout Leonardos reign. The Santiago Laws, who are infamous for enforcing race-based segregation between the "Portuguese Catholic and the Pagan Native" as it is stated in the law, still remain in full effect. While some of the natives have converted to the catholic faith this does not change their status in society at all, making the laws race-based instead of based on religion. These laws were first written as a compromise between the Colonial Government elite and the Jungastian Government to avoid a war over the issue of slavery which the indigenous population was subject to. The laws enforced lower wages for the native population, banned them from starting businesses, made it illegal for them to hold any form of power both nationally and locally and much more.

Economy and Infrastructure
Being extremely rich in natural resources, the economy of Albaterra is heavily based on agriculture, mining and resource extraction. The primary sector make up the majority of the economy with manufacturing only recently becoming a greater part of the overall economy in the country. Since the country is a former colony of Jungastia the export of these resources are mainly done to them with other partners only becoming interested in Albaterra within the last few years. This recent development of the country also means that the high-end service sector of the economy is almost non-existent inside the country and most of these jobs still exist in their former overlord of Jungastia. Because of corruption, loyalty to their former master and the country's pro-market stance, the government has put little effort into moving these jobs to Albaterra.

Religion
Religion is of great importance in Albaterra. The Catholic Church has great power in the country and a big majority of citizens see religion as a big part of their lives. Every child officially join the church when they get baptized and leaving the Church is impossible since there exists no process of leaving. Around 87% of the country is a member of the Catholic Church including all it's heresies. Paganism still exists to a minority in Albaterra that the majority of the indigenous population follows. While the state allows their religions worship they are always under supervision of the government. This is to make sure that no rebellious sentiment springs up again. Several rebellions have been caused because of Pagan zealots and the government wishes to make sure it doesn't happen again.