Kingdom of Wessex (FW)

The Kingdom of Wessex or commonly Wessex, is a small nation located in the British Isles in Western Europe. Wessex covers the entirety of the South West Peninsula and the West Country, in adherence to most of the ancient Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of Wessex. Wessex shares a land border with the Great British Confederation to the east, and a maritime border with France across the English Channel. Wessex has a population of over 7 Million people as of 2013, and is a relatively large regional power in Western Europe.

The Kingdom of Wessex is a Democratic Parliamentary Republic with a direct democratic system and a ceremonial constitutional monarchy, formed in 1972 following the declaration of the Great British Confederation, the region which was then known as South West England announced seccession from Great Britain on the 15th April 1972, following a meeting with anti-confederal, anti-unionist groups and liberatarian groups. Since the nation's formation Wessex had suffered economic uncertainty, however such problems were expected for a new country and the new government had planned accordingly, creating a stable and restructured economy and political structure by as early as 1978.

Wessex consists of 7 counties, Avon, Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Somerset and Wiltshire, with it's capital in the city of Bristol, while the Royal Capital is the city of Bath. Wessex's 7 counties are represented in the nation's unicameral Parliament.

Formation of Great British Confederation
In 1972, the Invasion of Northern Ireland led by Irish General, David O'Hughs, ended with the Treaty of Swansea, signed between the then United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, and allowed UK occupation of Ireland. However sporadic fighting continued, until the last cell of resistance was destroyed on the 27th March 1972. The United Kingdom focused on re-integrating Ireland into the country, however resistance and anti-unionist groups, in both Ireland and on the Ireland of Great Britain greatly opposed this action, also calling for the disbandment of the United Kingdom.

On April 14th, 1972, Queen Elizabeth II called for a meeting of representatives from all British countries, including Ireland, at Westminster Palace. At the meeting, publicly chosen representatives of Scotland, England, Wales, and Ireland met over the state of the United Kingdom as a single entity. Irish and Scottish representatives called for disbandment, whilst the Welsh and English delegates called for a resolution of the governing system of the United Kingdom. By the end of the debates, the representatives had met a resolution to become a confederation of semi independent nations under a single military, law and foreign affairs system. The Parliament approved the resolution as  the last Act of National Parliament, and the national monarch, Queen Elizabeth II gave Royal Assent the same day.

Succession and Declaration


At this time, several anti-unionist groups had met in Somerton, Somerset, what was then part of South West England. The meeting involved anti-unionist groups, republican groups and liberal groups. The meetings entailed the indpendence of the south-west of England as an independent entity, that would be known as Wessex, following the boundaries of the ancient Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of Wessex. The proposal originally called for Wessex to become a separate nation, within the Confederation that would appeal for increased autonomy, however as more information was revealed from the talks in Westminster, the proposal became less and less likely.

The meetings came to a resolution on the 15th April 1972, with the proposal for Wessex to become a fully independent nation outside of the Confederation. This proposal was addressed to the Parliament of the then United Kingdom on the same day. The proposal was met with some rebuttle, particularly by radical-unionist groups, who carried out a series of riots and unrest across South West England, which became known as the Bristol Riots, which subsequently spread to other population centres in the South West, including Plymouth and Bournemouth.

The United Nations, that had already been operating in Great Britain, secured the border between the newly created Commonwealth of Wessex and Great British Confederation, aswell as assisting the authorities to quelle the riots across the country.

Post Secession
Since its succession, Wessex has gone on to become a radical liberal nation in the eyes of some, criticising such as nations as the United States for it's treating the world as it's playground during the First Gulf War in 1990. Wessex has also been branded, the small nation, with big ideas following its Pacifistic declaration in 19XX, and Gross National Happiness support, and several referendums for a greener society, and indeed across the world.

In 1992, Prime Minister David Arnold made a contraversial speech at the United Nations, criticising global nations, "the Earth, and indeed the human race is in need of protection, which large nations, such as the former United States and China need to understand before they destroy everything. This speech has become a historic UN speech, in an attempt to make the world understand that it is on an economic and environmental suicide path. 

Politics
See Main: Government of Wessex

Monarchy
The Head of State of Wessex is current the Queen, Anna II, inheriting the position in 1980. The Monarchy is purely a ceremonial and cultural office and has no governing power over Wessex, serving as the representation of the Wessen people across the world. The main duties of the monarch of Wessex is, officially inaugruating the Prime Minister, being the honorary commander-in-chief of the Self Defence Forces, Hosting foreign dignitaries, appointing honors and awards, such as knighthoods and other honorific prefixes.

Government
The Kingdom of Wessex is officially a Directly Democratic Parliamentary Republic with a Constitutional Monarchy. The Prime Minister is the head of government holing the executive arm. The Legislative Arm comprises of the unicameral Parliament of Wessex, while the judicial arm consists of the Supreme Court of Wessex. The Parliament of Wessex is located in the Houses of Parliament in Millennium Square, Bristol, and is adjacent to the main government offices. The government is constitutionally secular and liberetarian, aswell as being a pacifistic nation by the constitutional amendment of 1992.

Wessex has two major political parties, the Social Liberal Party of Wessex, also known as the Social Liberals, and the Labour Party of Wessex, or simply ''Labour. ''Both of the main parties are Left-Wing, or Centre-Left respectively, the Conservative Party of Wessex describes itself as Right-Wing, and has subsequently never won a General Election due to the predominantly left-wing populace.

Direct Democracy


Wessex has a form of Direct Democracy, where citizens of the nation have the right to submit a constitutional initiative and a referendum, which can overturn parliamentary decisions. Due to the small size of Wessex the current direct democratic system has been praised due to it's efficiency.

By calling a referendum to Parliament, a citizen, or a group of citizens can challenge a law or policy that had been debated or passed by parliament. A group of citizens must gather atleast 1,000 signatures againt or for a policy or law within 100 days and they may submit this referendum, and a national vote will be held, and a simple majority will decide whether to accept or decline the referendum. A group of 4 counties together may

Similarly, a citizen or group of citizens may submit a civil constitutional initiative, allows citizens to put a national amendment to a national vote, if they can gain 10,000 signatures, to the proposed amendment within 1 year. Parliament may counter or aid in this voting process.

Law and Justice


The law of Wessex is predominantly based on that of the former English Law System within the former United Kingdom, which in turn is based upon Common Law Principles. The essence of common law is that, subject to statute, the law is developed by judges in courts, applying statute, precedent and common sense to the facts before them to give explanatory judgements of the relevant legal principles, which are reported and binding in future similar cases. However Wessex's Common Law system has three possible verdicts, Guilty, Not Guilty and ''Not Proven. Both Not Proven, and Not Guilty, ''result in aquittal.

The Courts of Wessex are headed by the Superior Courts of Wessex, which consists of the High Court of Appeal, for criminal cases, and the Crown Courts of Justice of Wessex. The Ministry of Justice oversees law and justice in Wessex as a whole, however the Prison System and Police Forces are overseen by the Home Office.

Crime in Wessex has decreased in recent years, however a stark increase occurred between 1985 and 1990. Wessex Prison Service, which reports to the Home Office, manages the prisons in Wessex.

Armed Forces
See Main: Wessex Self Defence Forces

Wessex's Self Defence Forces form the nation's entire armed forces, comprising of the Wessex Air Self Defence Force, the Wessex Land Self Defence Force and the Wessex Maritime Self Defence Force. The nation's Self Defence Forces are used solely for self defence of the nation following the adoption of pacifism in the constitution in 1992. However in extreme circumstances the Self Defence Forces may be used to attack if the government feels that Wessex is threatened by another nation or organisation.

Foreign Relations
See Main: Foreign Relations of Wessex

Wessex is a full member of the United Nations after joining in 1974, aswell as being a member of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, aswell as the International Criminal Courts.

Wessex has criticised many governments over its existence, namely the United States, due to it's invasive foreign policy, even neighbouring Great Britain over it's military base in Gwithian, Cornwall. However Wessex and Great Britain retain a common travel union, known as the Confederation-Wessex Travel Union which was created in 1973.

Administrative Divisions
See Main: Administrative Divisions of Wessex

As of 2013, Wessex has 6 Counties, and 1 Metropolitan Borough. Each of Wessex's counties are represented in the Parliament, some counties send 2 representatives, whilst some send 1, namely Wiltshire and Avon.

Economy
Wessex has a free market economy, with its official currency the Wessen Pound, which in recent years has been faring well against the British Pound and the Euro. Wessex refused to become part of the European Union and part of the Eurozone following it's invitation in 1980. The highest percentage of Wessex's GDP is the Service Industry, accounting for over 69%, followed by the Production industry with 28% and 2% agriculture.

The Wessen government feels that the happiness of it's people is more important than that of finance, and has implemented as system of Gross National Happiness similar to that introduced in Bhutan.

Corporations in Wessex are monitored very closely, as of the Corporate Regulation Act of 2001, passed by direct democracy. Destroyer Pricing systems are strictly prohibited, and businesses and corporations are fined if they are caught.

Corn Street in Bristol is the nation's financial centre, and is known for its history in banking. Both the Central Bank of Wessex and the Bristol Stock Exchange are located on the street.

Despite Wessex's small size it maintains a host of global companies, such as C&J Clark Shoes which is headqaurtered in Street, Somerset, Westland Helicopters which is headquartered in Yeovil, Somerset, aswell as Defence Equipment and Support which is headquartered in Abbey Wood, Bristol.

Geography
Wessex occupies the Peninsula of the South West of the Isle of Great Britain, separated from the Great British Confederation by a land border and the Bristol Channel across from Wales. The nation has a long coastline, most of which is under protection due to it's archaeological importance, with the Jurassic Coast in Dorset being a major source of Prehistoric fossils.

The east of the region is characterised by wide, flat clay vales and chalk and limestone downland. The vales, with good irrigation, are home to the region's dairy agriculture. Somerset Levels was created by reclaiming wetlands, located only 6 feet above sea level, the levels formerly separated Glastonbury from mainland Great Britain in the 7th Millenium BC. The Southern British Chalk Formation extends into Wessex, creating a series of high, sparsely populated and archaeologically rich downs, most famously Salisbury Plain, but also Cranborne Chase, the Dorset Downs and the Purbeck Hills, aswell as lowlands such as the Mendip Hills. These downs are the principal area of arable agriculture in Wessex.

Climate
Wessex has an Oceanic classified climate, and experiences cool winters with warmer summers and relatively high levels of precipitation all year round. Annual rainfall is approximately from 1,000 millimetres to 2,000 millimetres.

Inland areas of low altitude experience the least amount of precipitation. They experience the highest summer maximum temperatures, but winter minimum are colder than the coast. Snowfalls are more frequent in comparison to the coast, but less so in comparison to higher ground. Areas of moorland inland such as: Bodmin Moor, Dartmoor and Exmoor experience lower temperatures and more precipitation than the rest of Wessex. In comparison to inland areas, the coast experiences high minimum temperatures, especially in winter, and it has slightly lower maximum temperatures in the summer. Rainfall is the lowest at the coast and snowfall is rarer than the rest of the region. Coastal areas are the windiest parts of Wessex, and they receive the most sunshine.

Education
See Main: Education in Wessex Education in Wessex is provided by the state, and is the responsibility of the Ministry of Education. Most schools in Wessex have gained Academy status, meaning they hve more power to make independent decisions whilst still funded by the taxpayers, aswell as grants from the government, and some of the best schools in the country are academies, including Huish Episcopi Secondary School ranked 1st. Wessex has also gained its fame for the University of Bristol, which today is one of the most sought after universities in western europe, at the same level as Oxford.

Health
Health in Wessex is provided by the National Health Service of Wessex, which is funded by the taxpayer, and free at time of usage for universal healthcare. The NHSW takes its organisational structure from the British National Health Service, and has become one of the best in Western Europe. The NHSW was formed in 1972, from assets of the NHS already present in Wessex, and two state of the art hospitals at Frenchay, Bristol and Taunton, Somerset.

Communications
Wessex has a somewhat advanced communications service, the most telecommunication services provided by GB companies such as O2, Orange and TMobile, whilst We Cell is one of the only Wessen providers. Fiberoptic Internet has been available in Bristol since 2009, and future networks plan to be expanded to much of the North-East of Wessex. Wireless Internet is available throughout the country, mostly provided by Sky and We Net (owned by We Cell).

Transport
Some of the greatest transport infrastructure in the country was designed and built by Isambard Kingdom Brunel in the late 1800's, including Temple Meads Station in central Bristol, Clifton Suspension Bridge in Clifton, Bristol aswell as much of the railyway service in Wessex. Wessex has a developed rail network, of which many connect straight into London in Great Britain, from Penzance in the far west of Wessex. The main line, the 'Heart of Wessex Line' connects Bristol to the east and west of the country, linking it to Weymouth, Dorset, Castle Cary and Yeovil in Somerset, all the way down to Penzance, Cornwall.

Wessex has five airports, Bristol International, Newquay International, Exeter International, Gloucester Regional and Plymouth Regional, with Bristol being the largest and busiest of the four. Air links are also provided to the Isles of Scilly, from Bristol, Exeter, Newquay and Plymouth aswell as helicopter services from Land's End, the most westerly point in Wessex.

Wessex also has limited Motorway Networks, with the M1 (formerly the M5) linking Bristol to the far west in Exeter, with an extension completed in 2005, all the way down to Plymouth. The M1 also links the nation to Great Britain.