Bristol Commune

The Bristol Commune is a sovereign revolutionary socialist microstate located in Western Europe, bordered by the United Kingdom to the North, East and South and the Bristol Channel to the West. It is fourth smallest nation in Europe and the fifth smallest country in the world, having a total area of 110 km2 (40 sq miles). The Commune's territory consists of the city of Bristol, its de facto capital, and several kilometres of surrounding countryside. The Commune has a total population of 634,212 people as of 2015.

The land that now constitutes the Commune, has been inhabited by humans since the Iron Age, when hill forts and Roman villas had been built in the area surrounding the junction of the River Frome with the River Avon. The area became known as Brycgstow in Old English during the 11th century, recieving a Royal Charter from the Kingdom of England in 1155 which gave it recognition as a city. From the 13th to the 18th century, it ranked among the top three English cities after London, along with York and Norwich, on the basis of tax receipts, until the rapid rise of Manchester, Liverpool and Birmingham in the Industrial Revolution, which led to the city become impoverished for much of the 20th century and lead to rise in popularity of Socialist movements.

Bristol as a Commune was declared in 1981, however not officially recognised by the United Kingdom until 1988, the Commune was established by the Socialist Commune Party of Bristol in the Eight Week Revolution led by the Bristol Commune Militia among other groups, which involved a popular uprising of Bristolians against the government of Margaret Thatcher, however the revolution did not spread across the rest of the United Kingdom as was the endeavor of the revolutionary organisations. The Eight Week Revolution ended with a stalemate in February 1981, and the de facto sovereignty of the Commune, however without the recognition of the United Kingdom. This changed in 1988, when the Parliament of the United Kingdom passed an Act which officially recognised the Commune, despite earlier decrees by the United Nations of the Commune's sovereignty.

The government of Bristol takes place within the framework of a Socialist Commune, characterised as a local and transparent organisation composed of delegates bound by mandates of the people through grass roots participatory democracy. A highly centralised state, both politically and economically, the Commune is a state run for, and by the people for the greater good, according to the Commune's founding document, and has been described to follow the principles of the dictatorship of the proletariat. The leader of the Commune, is the Premier who is directly elected by the people. The 52 seat People's Assembly is elected separately, in legislative elections which is led by the Chairperson. The main political organisation in the Commune is the Socialist Party, however among several other minor parties many members of the government run on non-partisan independent campaigns.

The economy of the Commune consists of the public ownership of the means of production and all industry run by the Workers' council. However, there is also a small service sector characterised by cottage industry and very limited free enterprise. Following the 1981 revolution, the government of the Commune took over industry and enterprises in Bristol which subsequently became nationalised and were moved into public ownership using their assets for the development of public services.