Vesnay

Vesnay (Vesnayan: ⰂⰅⰓⰘⰐⰋⰡ Verxnija), officially the Illuminated Commonwealth of the Vesnay (ⰒⰓⰑⰔⰂⰅⰔⰘⰜⰘⰅⰐⰐⰑYⰅ ⰔⰑⰄⰓⰖⰈⰘⰅⰔⰕⰂⰑ ⰂⰅⰓⰘⰐⰋⰡ Prosveshchennoye Sodruzhestvo Verxnija), is a country located in west Hatar. Clockwise from its metropole, it borders to Melkia its south and Arsytia to its west. Its capital and largest city is Progress (ⰖⰔⰒⰘⰅⰍⰋ Uspekhi). Most of its territory lies in the floodplains of the Yircan River in the south and Mosta River in the north, which both empty westwards into Lake Nisqibal.

Vesnay in its modern, humanist form was spawned from the overthrowing of the Kosvinate of the Vesnay, a despotic state beset by economic trouble and political unrest in its twilight years. The then-secretive Society of Tomorrow would produce the Commonwealth Blueprint, a manifesto promoting radical humanism and, and organize a revolutionary movement culminating as the Scholar's Conspiracy of 5 1849. Under the direction of the Society's president and ideologue Fucen Tasingje, a Fengese inquisitor exiled for her heretical Ultramaterialist beliefs, Vesnay underwent a radical restructuring of politics and society known as the Rational Revision, characterized by massive upheavals which aimed to "rationalize away the character of despotism (monarchy) and superstition (religion) in Vesnay" through or demolition. The Cult of the Progress, an esoteric humanist state cult, would be established during this time. The Revision lasted until Tasingje's death in 1876, upon which the Old Club, an oligarchic inner circle comprising founding revolutionaries and their protégés, succeeded her. Though moderated from its radicalistic excesses, autarky and general paranoia was the order of the day in Monolith Vesnay, informed by an arguably accurate assessment of humanist Vesnay as "an island of progress amidst boundless ignorance". The Bastion Policy, where Vesnay proactively sponsored similar revolutionary movements across Hatar, became national policy.

The effectiveness of the Bastion Policy is debatable, though the birth of several continental revolutionary states (most significantly Arsytia) throughout the rest of the 19th century would see to the end of autarky and slow relaxation of authoritarianism in Vesnay, as the country entered diplomatic and economic relationships with fellow revolutionaries. The refusal of the Old Club to terminate its oligarchic hold on power, alongside its corruption both real and perceived, would however instigate internal unrest in the Society's elite, allowing the military strongman and demagogue Megal Viniy to coup the ruling Chetyrka and install himself as president. Revisionist purges would gut the ranks of the ruling Society, leaving the sycophancy - yes-men to Viniy's increasingly disastrous policy decisions, from the Yircan War to the Futurist Agriculture Plan. His reputation recovered somewhat when he led Vesnay's liberation from Axis occupation after its invasion during the Great Serrataran War, though his schizophrenic streak - culminating as the White Paper on Acceleration - saw him undoubtably vilified, if not feared. After his death, a soft coup was launched by the Contreists against his loyalists, installing pluralist democracy.

Modern Vesnay is a socialist republic founded on humanist and technocratic principles, and while the Society of Tomorrow rules the country as a, the liberal membership of the Society has in effect allowed for pluralist democracy. Citizens are politically active, enjoying a high standard of living brought by a  economy, first-rate educational standards, and effective. With as its focus, the Vesnayan mixed economy has substantial government interventions, notably through broad  and government monopolies in strategic industries and utilities. The private sector represents a slight majority of Vesnay's, dominated by cooperatives mutually competing in a similar fashion as private corporations through arrangements. Vesnay is a founding member of the Trans-Serrataran Union and Tavaric Treaty Organization, and is a member of the World Trade Federation.

Etymology
The name Vesnay is a saessified corruption of the Vesnayan endonym ⰂⰅⰓⰘⰐⰋⰡ (verxnija), which itself is derived from the word ⰂⰅⰓⰘⰐⰋⰋ (verxnij), meaning "upper".

The term has variously been used to refer to Vesnay, the country or the Vesnay, the geographical-ethnographical region inhabited by the Vesnayan people, speaking the Vesnayan language. Historically, the term was used to refer to a vague ethnographical region defined as being "to the north" (thus upper) of the Urhanic culture sphere, inhabited by the native Vesnayan people. While the region is now commonly defined by the country's territorial boundaries, historically, its geographical extent has been difficult to pin down owing to the non-existence of Vesnay as a country until relatively recent history. The modern position is that the name Vesnay may be used interchangeably to refer to both concepts, differentiated from one another by either the exclusion or inclusion of the.

Military
Vesnay has a deep-rooted military culture, which while relatively recent, has significantly defined the identity and culture of the country. Its armed forces, the Workers' and Peasants' Green Army for Revolutionary Progress (ⰓⰀⰁⰑⰝⰅ-ⰍⰓⰅⰔⰕⰠⰡⰐⰔⰍⰀⰡ ⰍⰓⰀⰔⰐⰀⰡ ⰀⰓⰏⰋⰡ ⰈⰀ ⰓⰅⰂⰑⰎⰣⰜⰋⰑⰐⰐⰟⰉ ⰖⰔⰒⰘⰅⰍⰋ Raboche-Krest'janskaja Zelenaja Armija za Revoljutsionnij Uspekhi; commonly shortened to the Green Army or Uspekhiniks), was founded in the flames of the 1849 revolution, defining itself against the aristocratic and religious trappings of the Militant Host of Vesnay that preceded it as an "army of the people, by the people, for the people". Undergoing several reorganizations concurrent with the various political revisions of Vesnayan history, the modern Vesnayan military is divided into the Vesnayan Land Defense, Vesnayan Maritime Defense , Vesnayan Air Defense , Vesnayan Strategic Defense ( and strategic operations), Vesnayan Legionary Order , and Vesnayan Revolutionary Guard ( and ). These branches are further split into active and reserve forces. In total, combining both conscripts and volunteers, the peacetime personnel of the Green Army numbers around 150,000, whereas the reserves are maintained at around 5 million at any time of the year.

Perhaps contrasting the pluralism of Vesnayan society and thus politics, the Vesnayan people has consistently displayed a militarist tendency: most of the population has been in the military owing to, and the military is viewed as a bastion of revolutionary defense inasmuch as it is a standard-bearer of revolutionary principles and culture. While options like or a "disability tax" (mostly for those physically or mentally deficient), military service is considered a rite of adulthood. Political, if not social ostracization occurs for those who intentionally avoid military service, and unless incapable by legal definition, military service is prerequisite to the civic rights expected of adult members of society. Vesnayan applies universal conscription for all able-bodied male and female citizens: for most people, this consists of active training for a period of 275 days (~9 months, doubled for public service) before the age of 30 and thereupon two weeks of annual until one reaches the age of 50. Conscripts may join either six of the Green Army's branches, but owing to manpower demands, the Land Defense receives the most personnel.

Notably, while Vesnay's "traditional" military branches (ie: ground force, navy, air force) as well as the Strategic Defense branch are formally under the command of the Vesnayan nation through the (the Ordinator), the Legionary Order and Revolutionary Guard are under distinct chain of commands: being the armed wing of the ruling party, the Society of Tomorrow, and thus under the command of its president. Traditionally, both offices are held by the same person, as the Society continues to rule the country as a. Though the Society's hold on political hegemony has been historically unassailable - a status quo that apparently will remain stable for the foreseeable future - political scientists both domestic and international have noted the possibility that the two offices may be chaired separately if the Society ever loses its hold on power, or more plausibly, a split in the Society's leadership occurs. This possibility remains a taboo topic in Vesnayan politics, existing as an unspoken nuclear option - a final resort to be invoked if another Revision becomes necessary.

As aforementioned, the military is a source of pride for Vesnay, and indeed, one wouldn't be mistaken for considering it to be inseparable from the national character of Vesnay. The outside observer may discern that a "siege mentality" colors the doctrinal decisions of the military: the necessity of constant military readiness nationwide (and even vigilance outside military contexts) is emphasized in Vesnayan education and media, and every citizen is obligated, even expected to rally wholeheartedly to any military effort pertaining to the vague ideal of "upholding the progressive revolution" - in essence,. Even if a large-scale war involving the millions of conscripts available in the national reserves seems unlikely in the 21st century, the availability of that option is nonetheless considered essential to the Green Army. The entrenchment of the Vesnayan militarist identity has meant that any suggestion to ending this system of national service is akin to political suicide - reforms, if any, have largely been marginal.

Vesnay is a major contributor of personnel to the TSU and TTO, and voluntary transnational  postings are popular among who enter career soldiery. Vesnayan peacekeepers are deployed in Boreikya and Ostrovya (1993-1994), Sakblia (, 1998-present), Blausland and the successive Trust Territory of Central Ozara since Operation Savannah Storm of 2002, and the Murog Territory (Operation Constancy of Reason, 2006-present).

Economy
By global standards, Vesnay is a  economy, characterized by a burgeoning economic system based on Arsytian  with public and private participation in the economy, both significant in their own right. As can be expected from a socialist economy, the government plays a key role in regulating the markets, exerting itself through its direct and indirect control of many Vesnayan industries, beyond economic planning and regulations. Especially, the government holds monopolies in what it views to be strategic industries and utilities: most prominently energy, vital transportation, telecommunications, defense industry and etc. Regular government interventions in the economy, infamously through the levying of taxes, are done in the name of protecting the interests of the nation, its revolutionary principles, and thereby, its people.

In spite of all this, there nonetheless exists a relatively prosperous private sector in Vesnay, which makes up around 60% of the nation's on paper. While the government holds significant stakes in the economy in nominal terms, in practice, the responsibility for managing much of these stakes are delegated via contracts to quasi-private cooperatives, essentially leaving space for healthy economic competition to occur in sectors outside the government's direct and strict supervision. Indeed, this system of cooperative delegations (known as the "Vesnayan model" in some circles) is prevalent across the Vesnayan economy. While the government may monopolize several key industries, if not already delegated in some fashion, some parts of the extended supply line (such as with transportation or raw manufacturing) may be privatized. Complete government control of any given industry at every level is rare, if arguably impossible in the current economic model.

Instead, economic interventionism is primarily exercised in an indirect fashion. The Progressive Distributary Dictatorate - of Vesnay - is the  arm of the government. It is the pre-eminent provider of credit to both institutions and individuals of all sizes and levels. It additionally doubles as a, holding significant positions in the nation's private sector and the international market - it is among the world's largest such funds. When regulating the economy, instead of heavy-handed (at least by more eastern standards) exercises of naked authority through planning or other policies, the government mobilizes the financial clout of the Dictatorate to weigh in on economic matters - a state of affairs claimed to allow for greater flexibility by the model's proponents. Through the Dictatorate, the state operates a quasi-monopoly in the domestic financial industry, as it outweighs any private financial institutions by a substantial margin. Such private institutions have largely been relegated to niche banking tailoring to specialized demographics, but still remain under government scrutiny - that the government holds controlling minorities in most such institutions mean that de facto nationalization is always possible.

The Permanent Committee for Economic Affairs is the official government department responsible for the economy, though its roles are mostly limited to setting the economic agenda of Vesnay, owing to the Dictatorate's proactivity. It drafts the five-year plans of Vesnay and submits them for approval by the Choral legislature - the political wrangling involved with the process is likely a contributing factor to the Economic Committee's marginalization in economic policymaking. Owing to political taboos over "abuse" of Committee authority in textbook cases like Viniy's Futurist Agriculture Plan (though it is debatable whether this exact application was illegal by contemporary law), planning is generally limited to providing a unified economic direction for the public and private entities of the Vesnayan economy to work towards: a state of affairs described by a Vesnayan politician to be akin to "siccing a pack of dogs at whatever [economic] issue shows its face".

Since the late 20th century, the modern focus of the Vesnayan economy has been on the development of industries. Bolstered a high educational standard - a majority of Vesnayans possess tertiary education - Vesnay is renowned for its electronics, photonics, computers, and in general its high value-added industries, including pharmaceuticals and hydrocarbon refining. The Progressive Triangle, centered on the national capital, is among the most prominent technological and innovative hubs worldwide.

Industry and technology
Though relatively large in territorial terms (or at least when compared to the rest of Hatar), Vesnay is poor in resources both agricultural and mineral, a state which has defined and plagued much of its economic history, until now. With the technological leaps worldwide associated with modernization and the ongoing Cold War, as well as the societal reforms made by under the technocratic leadership of the Society of Tomorrow, the nation has been enabled to maximize the potential of its population: that is, through innovation.

Much to the celebration of Vesnay, the nation is considered to be a premier hub for technological research and development worldwide, the Vesnayan ecosystem for high technology being highly optimized and occupying the significant bulk of its economy. First-rate educational standards - achievements relevant included universal literacy and majority tertiary education - has provided the nation a highly proficient workforce, with which it pursues a technocratic economic policy which prioritizes high technology as a cornerstone of the Vesnayan economy. Technological advancement has become a sort of hallmark for Vesnay on the international market, known most particularly for its high-quality electronics - a reputation maintained by government scrutiny and subsidization in equal amounts.

In the private sector, major cooperatives like Misistem, Nanotons, and Vestelcom corner the Vesnayan technology market, though this has not precluded a vibrant environment of high-tech startups, supported by the consistent development of talent by the nation's academic and military system, (and arguably the social connections made within such institutions). Vesnayan public and private interests hold significant stakes in the global design and production market, themselves being host to one of the world's foremost chip design industries - the nation is afforded a geopolitical clout as might not be expected from such a geographically isolated state. Vesnay is the principal supplier of consumer electronics, and to a lesser scale industrial electronics, to the TSU, occupying a comparative advantage in comparison with the more extensively industrialized Arsytia or Melkia.