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 condition which has defined and plagued much of its economic history until recent history. With the technological leaps worldwide associated with modernization and the ongoing Cold War, as well as the societal reforms made 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 making up a significant bulk of its economy. First-rate educational standards - achievements relevant including universal literacy and majority tertiary education - have provided the nation a highly proficient workforce, with which it pursues a technocratic economic policy which spotlights high technology as a vital cornerstone of the Vesnayan economy. Technological acumen has become a sort of hallmark for Vesnay on the international market, known particularly for its high-quality electronics - a reputation maintained by government scrutiny and subsidization in equally sizable 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 constructed 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 - with this, the nation is afforded a geopolitical clout that might not be expected from such a geographically isolated state. Vesnay is the principal supplier of consumer electronics and to a lesser extent, industrial electronics, to the TSU, occupying a in comparison with the more extensively industrialized Arsytia or Melkia.

Demographics
As of 2022, the population of Vesnay numbers at 15,829,016 people. Population distribution is southwest-centric, with habitation being concentrated in the more temperate south along the coasts of the westerly Lake Nisqibal and the rivers which flow into it. The southwestern population primarily reside in urban settlements spread across the coastal and alluvial plains of the region, the Progressive Triangle - a extending outwards from the capital of Progress - being the most notable and economically important. The rest of the country is relatively sparse in population, centered in small cities and surrounding rural communities which primarily service regional timber and mining industries.

Ethnology
Vesnayan ethnology is predominantly comprised by the Vesnayese people, an ethnocultural group native to the territories encompassed by the modern boundaries of Vesnay. The Vesnayese make up around 76.7%% (~12,141,000) of the population, followed by ethnic minorities like Melkians, Arsytians, and Svats - mostly Urhanics native to the eastern regions of Hatar. As with most ethnic classifications, the Vesnayese are less defined by any biological variable and more so a shared cultural identity, though a relatively ubiquitous phenotype can be asserted across the population. The Vesnayese identity was first formed with the separation of Vesnayan from the wider East Urhanic regional parlance around the late first millennium CE, but would be further clarified with the start of the Enlightenment around the 17th and 18th centuries and the birth of Vensayan. This came to a culmination with the Vesnayan revolution of 1849, whereupon the Vesnayan revolutionary humanists incumbent would define the Vesnayese identity against the perceived superstition and despotism regnant across the rest of the continent through the reforms (and purges) of the Rational Revision - coalescing the idea of Vesnayan nationhood as one distinctly humanist, secular, and thereby enlightened.

The Vesnayan nation would become instrumental in giving form to the Vesnayese cultural identity. Loyalty to the revolution codified through the rituals of the Cult of the Progression is a must; dedication to humanist, democratic and patriotic ideals through societal contribution, primarily through and participation in the intellectual-political environment of the nation, is an important marker for the cultural identity. Additionally, fluency in the Vesnayan language is a vital prerequisite. The monocentric nature of the language has meant that its preservation is a particular concern for the government and cultural adherents, most apparent in the country's insistence on its use in all facets of society and life. All signposts and similar publicly visible displays must be inscribed in Vesnayan, all public mass media is Vesnayan-only, and literary standardization is zealously pursued to eradicate local dialects (considered corruptions of the language). A particularly vitriolic manifestation of this has been through the birth of an exceptionalist attitude over the "superiority" of the Vesnayan language: foreign dialects are mocked in media, foreign languages are described as pedantic and convoluted, bizarre (many times inaccurate) phraseologies and turns of speech are attributed to foreigners of all stripes. The clipped vernacular style in which the nation's founder Fucen Tasingje wrote in is taught as the high watermark of Urhanic literature and speech, considered to be a "language of the people" freed of unnecessary formalisms. More humorously, foreigners might note the tenacious insistence of Vesnayans to identify themselves as such in all situations, speaking the language and utilizing its aphorisms and slang at any opportunity, even when such references may not be understood by the listener - this is despite most Vesnayans being bilingual.

The typical associated with the Vesnayese is similar to those found across the local East Hatarian and North Serican regions, a mixture of the characteristics recognizable from native Urhanic Hatarians and nomadic Khalkhans from Serica. The stereotypical Vesnayan person has light-colored skin, with variably light or dark hair and eyes. Descending in incidence, brown, blonde, and black hair are most present in Vesnayan populations. Eye coloration ranges from green and blue to brown and black, with relatively high incidences of s in comparison with Hatarian averages. Though phenotype is not strictly associated with Vesnayese cultural belonging, Vesnayans generally consider people with olive skin to be foreigners due to its comparative rarity, any darker being exotic to Vesnayan sensibilities.