United Republic

The Republic of Liberty, commonly known as Liberty, is a nation located in North America spanning the Southern United States, Northern Mexico, and some islands of the Caribbean. It is made up of 25 commonwealths, the newest one being Cuba. Over 245 million citizens live in the Republic which is over 2.3 million square miles in size. Its capital is Atlanta, with its President Walter Montgomery and Prime Minister James Harrison leading the nation.

Carolina Republic
In June of 1994, South Carolina Governor Rick Dales proposed the idea of independance from the United States to the South Carolina legislature after several disagreements between the state and the federal government. Many SC congressmen supported the idea and called the secession to go into effect. Controversy spread nationwide as many feared any states seceeding from the US. President Bill Clinton attacked Governor Dales and the SC Government calling them "radical sectionalists", which caused more South Carolinians to support the secession. Votes took place in the South Carolina and on August 13th, 1994, SC announced its plans to seceed. Controversy exploded across America as the US would lose one state. The Carolina Republic was formed on October 20, 1994. Two months later, North Carolina joined the Carolina Republic after being told not to help the Carolina Republic. President Clinton began to push for reunification but the CR refused to comply. In April of 1994, Georgia joined the Republic. Carolina Prime Minister Rick Dales soon demanded all US Military bases within their country to be vacated by the end of 1995. A Cold War began to brew between Carolina and the United States as Rick Dales and Bill Clinton kept verbally attacking each other. By the end of 1995, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, and Florida joined Carolina. In the new year, Bill Clinton proposed the Unitary Act, a plan for each state to lose most of its power and to be controlled by the federal government. Many southern states were furious by the idea, sparking many to plan to secede to Liberty. Prime Minister Rick Dales soon began to plan for a much larger and more powerful republic to form, creating the largest controversy in American history.

Formation of Liberty
With the proposal of the Unitary Act, states such as Texas, Missouri, Kansas, and many others, threatened secession. Rick Dales welcomed the idea and encouraged them to join. Meetings began to take place in the Capitol of Columbia, debating the new nation. Dales described his plan as a nation "composed of several commonwealths" and "having a President and a Prime Minister". In March, the states of Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Kansas planned to secede from the United States and join the new republic on May 1, 1996. That day, the Liberty Pact was signed, establishing the Republic of Liberty and forming 13 commonwealths. A flag based off the "Betsy Ross" flag was adopted as a temporary flag until a new one was created. The Carolina Republic Capitol of Columbia would continue to serve as the national Capitol until the construction in Atlanta would finish.

Libertonian-American Cold War
With the rise of Liberty, the United States began to militarize their borders to the south along the American-Libertonian border. Liberty soon followed as a cold war began to brew between the countries, especially after the secession of New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, and Nevada, mostly due to the amount of US military personnel and equipment in that area. The US finished its border completion in 1997 and had patrols along the border. The most militarized area was in Saint Louis, sitting right on the border. St. Louis was divided in half, with West St. Louis being in Liberty and East St. Louis being in the United States. Bridges crossing between the two sides became heavily guarded. Choteau Island was converted into a US military base as it kept a close watch on Liberty. Liberty established Fort Dunn to compete with the United States in border conflicts. Civilians on both sides feared a Second Civil War even as both governments assured themselves that it would never happen.

St. Louis Incident
The closest encounter with a Second American Civil War was the St. Louis Incident on September 23, 1998. Several US Soldiers crossed into West St. Louis without permission from Liberty. They were approached by Libertonian soldiers at around 2:15 PM and were told to leave. The US soldiers refused to leave, resulting in Libertonian soldiers threatening arrest. The US soldiers began cursing at the Libertonian soldiers. A US soldier assaulted one of the Libertonian soldiers, resulting in a shot fired by the Libertonians. A firefight broke out at 2:20 as both sides continued firing at eachother. By 2:25, 3 US soldiers and 5 Libertonian soldiers were left dead, with 4 injured. Two civilians were also injured from bullet wounds. This resulted in much tighter relations in both countries. President Dales and President Clinton continued blaming each other for the incident.

Relations Improve
By 2000, Puerto Rico and The Bahamas joined the Republic of Liberty as the Caribbean Commonwealth, with the Mexican states of Sonora and Chihuahua joining as the Baja Commonwealth. In January, President Bush was sworn in as President of the United States. Bush showed much more interest in Liberty as both Bush and the Libertonian government had conservative views. Bush met with President Dales in Atlanta and began discussing new policies. The two became fond of each other and soon began to repair American-Libertonian relations. Liberty's military, the Republic of Liberty Armed Defense (RLAD), grew drastically between 2001, growing from 200,000 troops to 800,000 troops between 2001-2004. In 2004, Liberty joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization to gain a stronger military alliance. Liberty struck new, healthy, relations with countries such as Canada, United Kingdom, and Germany. It also began to gain support from Israel and the Russian Union.

In 2007, the Cuban-Libertonian War started in the Caribbean with the Cuban invasion of Puerto Rico, part of the Caribbean commonwealth. NATO came to Liberty's aid to attempt to drive the Cuban military out of the Caribbean and Florida. After 2007, Liberty was regarded as a nation bearing one of the healthiest economies around the world as oil was being drilled in Texas and Baja. Along with oil, President Montgomery began to urge companies to bring factories back to Liberty, which would boost the economy and secretly slow China's growth.

During the Great Recession, the Republic of Liberty faired very well during the time period as its economy was mostly based off the war effort. While countries like the United States and Britannia plunged into recession, the economy of Liberty was growing as more factories were built and more oil was drilled. In 2009, US President Barack Obama began to criticize the Republic of Liberty for its industrialization and its government as he feared that its influence would be unhealthy for the country. Montgomery told Obama that they should follow Liberty's ways as the United States' economy was collapsing and Liberty's was growing.

Following the allied victory in Cuba, Liberty claimed the nation as a Libertonian territory. Parliament decided to make Cuba a new commonwealth in 2013, making it the 21st Commonwealth. Project Restoration was started to modernize the formerly socialist driven Cuba into a new modernized commonwealth. In 2013, Liberty was regarded as an "economical power developing into the next world superpower" as Liberty began to surpass the United States by an economical standpoint.

Government
The federal government of Liberty is a Federal Semi-Presidential Constitutional Republic and was originally a Constitutional Republic during the Carolina Republic. The government is divided up into three branches, the executive, the legislative, and the judicial. In the executive branch, there is the President, the Prime Minister, and the Cabinet. The legislative branch is made up of Parliament, which is further divided into the Senate and House of Diplomats. The Judicial Branch is made up of the Superior Court of Liberty and has 7 superior court justices, which are appointed by the President.

Executive
The executive branch of the federal government is one of three federal government branches. Its positions include the President, the Prime Minister, and the Cabinet, which is divided up into further positions. The President is regarded as the highest position of the executive branch. Each President serves terms of six years and can run up to three terms except in emergencies The President has the power to veto laws passed by Parliament, declare war, and to impeach members of Parliament and the Superior Court. Parliament and the Prime Minister can refuse the President's orders, such as a veto or a declaration of war, by a vote between the Senate and the House of Diplomats. Several requirements to become President of Liberty must be met. To become President, you must be a Libertonian born citizen, you must be 25 years old or older, you must be able to understand English, and you must have been a permanent citizen of Liberty. A new requirement that will go into effect on May 1, 2021, is that you must have service in the Republic of Liberty Armed Defense.

The Prime Minister is the second in command. Each Prime Minister can serve terms of six years and can run up to three terms. The Prime Minister has the power to veto laws and appoint members of the Cabinet. Unlike the President, the Prime Minister cannot impeach members of government but can refuse the President's decision. The Prime Minister is also a member of Parliament and must ask and answer questions every Friday evening.

Commonwealths
The Republic of Liberty consists of several commonwealths, listed in what order they were added to the Republic.
 * 0. Atlanta (2002 Capitol)
 * 1. Carolina (1994-1995 Carolina Republic)
 * 2. Georgia (1995 Carolina Republic)
 * 3. Tennessee (1995 Carolina Republic)
 * 4. Alabama (1995 Carolina Republic)
 * 5. Mississippi (1995 Carolina Republic)
 * 6. Florida (1995 Carolina Republic)
 * 7. Texas (1996)
 * 8. Louisiana (1996 Louisiana & Arkansas)
 * 9. Kansas (1996 Kansas)
 * 10. Missouri (1996)
 * 11. New Mexico (1997)
 * 12. Arizona (1997)
 * 13. Nevada (1998)
 * 14. Puerto Rico (1999)
 * 15. Baja (1999 Sonora & Chihuahua)
 * 16. Caribbean (1999 The Bahamas & Puerto Rico combined)
 * 17. Coahuila (2001)
 * 18. Tamaulipas (2001)
 * 19. Jamaica (2003)
 * 20. Cuba (2013)

The islands of Cape Verde are not listed as they are a Libertonian territory and not a commonwealth.