Yugoslavia

From Roach Busters

Краљевина Југославија Kingdom of Yugoslavia
Flag	Coat of arms
Motto "Један народ, један краљ, једна држава" (Serbo-Croatian) ("One nation, one king, one country")
Anthem Химна Краљевине Југославије (Serbo-Croatian) (National Anthem of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia)
Capital (and largest city)	Belgrade 44°48′N, 20°28′E
Official languages	Serbo-Croatian
Recognized regional languages	Slovenian, Macedonian, Montenegrin, Albanian, Hungarian, Slovak, Rusyn
Government  - Monarch  - Prime Minister	Feudal monarchy King Alexander III Čedomir Marković
Formation	December 25, 1815
Area  - Total  - Water (%)	255,898 km² 93,320 sq mi 0.37
Population  - July 2007 estimate  - Density	23,945,671 93.57 /km² 256.59 /sq mi
GDP (PPP)  - Total  - Per capita	2008 estimate $1,125.446 billion $47,000
Gini (2000)	42.6 (medium)
HDI (2005)	0.900 (high)
Currency	Dinar (KYD)
Time zone - Summer (DST)	CET (UTC +1) CEST (UTC +2)
Internet TLD	.yu
Calling code	+381

Yugoslavia (Serbo-Croatian: Jugoslavija), officially the Kingdom of Yugoslavia (Serbo-Crotian: Kraljevina Jugoslavija), is a feudal monarchy located in the Balkans in southeast Europe. It borders Italy and the Adriatic Sea to the west; Austria and Hungary to the north; Romania to the northeast; the Black Sea to the East; Greece to the south; and Albania to the southwest. It has an area of 255,898 km² and a population just shy of 24 million. It has managed, albeit with great difficult, to suppress (for the most part) ethnic nationalism, and fostered a national identity transcending ethnicity, religion, language, etc. Most Yugoslavians get along cordially regardless of their background, and think of themselves as Yugoslavians first.

[edit] History

For many centuries, many Slavic nations, to the north as far as Moldova all the way south to Macedonia, was ruled by a Tsar in Bulgaria. Beginning with the addition of large tracts of territory by the great conqueror and national hero Simeon I in the early 10th century, the Bulgarian Empire over the years would continue to gradually consolidate its territory in Eastern Europe.

Not only did the Bulgarian Empire make strides by adding externally to its land, the Tsars began to meld the Empire internally to their liking. With the specter of war always looming, the Tsar was able to draw a great number of concessions from the populace that served to solidify his power. Also, by weakening the power of other nobles by siding with the bourgeoise, the Tsar would steadily ennervate the aristocracy to his own gain.

Ironically, the Tsar's policies would eventually lead to his downfall. When the Empire was eventually boxed in by its rivals, the Tsar found his debt steadily rising with no gain in land to compensate. The Tsar attempted to raise taxes, but the populace, disillusioned by their sovereign, rose up against his rule in 1793, modelling the French Revolution. Ruling over so many diverse subjects, the Bulgarian Empire began to collapse rapidly.

However, these same subjects found no unity at the end of the war. Squabbling over political power found its release in the form of violence, as the various national forces engaged in total war intent on subjugating one another's people, and any dissidents within their own nation. The fratricidal wars continued relentlessly for two decades, with the carnage and destruction seeming to rage on without end.

But there would be deliverance. The aristocrats of Yugoslavia had taken refuge in London, anticipating the butchery of the revolution, and bided their time as their homeland tore itself apart. When the moment was right, they returned to their war-scarred land, and began a campaign of delegitimation against the various nationalist states. Their message was simple; the centralization of the king had created an apparatus and precedent for the insanity that had consumed Yugoslavia. If the order of their land was one based upon local control and individual consent in all matters, no Tsar, no nationalist would be able to inflict their evil upon others without being suppressed for their misdeeds.

Quickly, the warring Yugoslav nationalists were overthrown by an uprising led by the aristocracy. The other nationalists of the former Bulgarian empire were too entrenched in warfare with one another, and were unable to retaliate against the Yugoslavs. From then on, the various nationalities of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia would live in a patchwork of autonomous communities trading and coexisting with one another. A system of common law, based upon the judgements of various independent jurists and inspired by the decentralized theory of natural law of the medieval ages, would cooperate out of self-interest free of compulsion.

Under this new system, security and justice was provided on a for-profit basis, with a vast and complex network of independent jurists, police and scholars providing an ever-evolving system of customary law. Within time, the advantage of cooperation was realized and the best and wisest were given leading roles in coordinating law and order, not as central planners but as a voluntary clearing house and third party that could be changed at any time. The leader of whatever company would be the leader was called king, not in the sense of the absolute monarchs but in the Anglo-Saxon sense of 'cyninge', a respected leader who was voluntarily followed for security.

With this order, the Kingdom of Yugoslavia was able to maintain its independence despite the crises that rattled Europe. And to this day it continues to grow in peace and prosperity, a once war-torn land filled with enmity and hate now nurtured by commerce and self-determination.

[edit] Foreign Relations

Having been a victim of imperialism itself, the Kingdom of Yugoslavia has committed itself to the principle of non-intervention in foreign policy. Despite this, Yugoslav private citizens are quite active in the world. Yugoslav merchants, over land, sea and sky, ply their trade throughout the world, the Kingdom having unilateral free-trade with the entire world, and the soldiers, ships and aircraft that guard these vital lines of trade are perhaps the most-skilled and prestigious in the world; indeed, private security is one of, if not the, most profitable industry in Yugoslavia. The leading firm of this industry is Aegis Security, which can provide $1 million dollar coverage in insurance against crime in Yugoslavia for only $10 a month, yet records billions of dollars worth of profit each quarter as they rapidly innovate to the desires of their customer. Aside from so-called legal trade, Yugoslavia also engages in smuggling, drug-trafficking and patent and copyright infringement, which, coupled with defiance of world prohibitions against tax evasion, makes the Kingdom the subject of much hatred among internationalist organizations headed by the United States.

The Kingdom cooperates splendidly with other libertarian nations, such as the Empire of Brazil, and conducts brisk trade with them. However, despite their open contact with the United States and United Kingdom there is a great feeling of resentment towards these countries, due to the Easter bombing of Belgrade and their support of communist revolutionary Josip Broz Tito during World War II. With what are perceived to be imperialist interventions continuing by both nations many Yugoslavs ardently oppose the United States Federal government and its allies, with some taking their enmity to a high level; many Somalis, for instance, have been spotted with Yugoslav-made weapons, and in fact several Yugoslavs have been captured by Ethiopians for having aided the resistance against their incursion.

[edit] Security

Security is one of, if not the, most profitable industry in Yugoslavia. With competition for security contracts and the threat of having to pay restitution if their client is injured or injures someone else, security is far more effective and less costly than most any place in the world with an almost non-existent level of crime. Aegis Security is the most prominent firm of all; not only does it act as a clearing house to coordinate security measures in order to maximize the profitability of all firms through coordination, it also engages in innovating security to lower costs and increase quality. Its CEO, Alexander Konstantinovic, almost single-handedly managed to pull Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria, from almost certain obliteration from the chaos of the collapse of the Bulgar National Front to a level almost as high as that of neighboring Yugoslavia proper, thanks to a combination of the use of advanced technology and the employment of Bulgars to help unite the people for their common security. It was this miracle that catapulted him to the Kingship of Yugoslavia.

Gun ownership is almost universal in Yugoslavia. A full 99.8% of households own some sort of firearm, with the number of firearms around 30 million. This is six million more than the actual population of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. Around three million of these are weapons that would be heavily regulated or even illegal in other parts of the world, such as assault rifles, submachine guns and rocket launchers. There are also pieces of military equipment in the hands of private citizens, such as tanks, artillery pieces, helicopters, and military aircraft. However, as most people lease the land they live on, one must either have some role in the security industry or be a trustworthy member of the community in order to avoid a restriction on one's lease that would preclude possession of these properties. Nevertheless, there is still a sizable number of these items held by normal people in order to provide a deterrent to a coup by Yugoslav security or a foreign invasion. Most people as part of their lease are expected to have some proficiency in firearms, which is also meant to heighten security and allow for better defense of private property. Often, there is some sort of militia that is created to provide a further defense.

While the matter of what the size of the Yugoslav military is is complicated by the fact that security is horizontally integrated, such that a general and a mall security guard may work for the same firm or be connected through contractors and subcontractors, all estimates indicate that it is sufficient to provide for the Kingdom's defense. Militias and privateers are quite popular in Yugoslavia, as they are cost-effective and can provide a deadly trap against invaders, but professional armed personnel are abundant in the Kingdom. On the sea, frigates form the bulk of the collective Yugoslav navy, as they provide excellent protection for world commerce. However, simultaneously they monitor the seas for submarines and pirates through advanced electronics, so as to keep Yugoslav security one step ahead of any potential threats. These ships also detain criminals on the high seas and commandeer them as prizes. In order to combat the potential firepower of a sizable national navy, the Yugoslav navy has developed larger warships in the case of war. Missile cruisers, attack submarines, and long-ranged enabled aircraft stand ready to blast an enemy navy from a step back, while a number of stealth-capable weapons systems such as drones, aircraft, and destroyers can quickly move in close and attack enemy ships before escaping. Yugoslav capability is also aided by electronic warfare vessels and aircraft along with low-tech countermeasures that would help enable what would essentially be a high-seas guerilla war, in order to weaken navies which are overly dependent on electronics and technology.

Yugoslavia's land-based forces are also well-prepared for any kind of warfare. Aside from the masses of trained, armed civilians, Yugoslavia boasts a sizable contingent of special forces, ranging from guerilla warfare to insurgent tactics to assassination to make a possible invasion as disastrous as possible. Their major equipment is speedy, able to rush in, attack, and then quickly escape before there can be a retaliation. This extends to their infantry, which is extremely mobile and also equipped with useful weapons such as missile launchers and mortars. Like the navy, they are equipped with a variety of countermeasures, ranging from electronic warfare to low-tech items that can create heat or disperse light. There are secret bases scattered throughout Yugoslavia with plenty of equipment in case of an emergency, and in the worst case scenario Yugoslav special forces would be able to assassinate leading enemies in order to through their plans into disarray and serve as a warning to their successors.

Yugoslav armed aircraft are different in kind to those of other nations. While other nations contain great numbers of bombers capable of obliterating cities, Yugoslav bombers of such capacity are few and far between, and would only be used on large concentrations of enemies without any danger of hitting civilians. Mainly, Yugoslav aircraft are interceptors to destroy any invading aircraft, most especially bombers, and strike aircraft to pinpoint and destroy ships and other targets from varying distances.

Yugoslavia also has a number of tactical nuclear weapons, which would only be used on large concentrations of enemies or on bunkers or missile silos. However, though theoretically it is possible that a larger-scale nuclear weapon could be possessed by someone in Yugoslavia, the security firms have decided that these weapons have no redeeming defensive value and refuse to allow any of their clients to possess them while maintaining a contractual relationship.