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Issue XXI
#1


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Issue XXI - Sunday, 8 April 2018



Train track gauge - a matter of national security

 
If you've travelled by train between Sedunn and Ezervölgy you've experienced the infamous change of trains at the border. If you haven't, the experience can be summarised in the following way: first the train is queued before it can drop you off on the platform, then you have to go through the border checkpoint (queueing again!), then you can board a new train and finally be on your way again. Compared to other nations this seems a little bit excessive, right? Here's the reason behind it.

Well, one contributing factor is that Sedunn and Ezervölgy don't have a visa free travel agreement, like many other nations, so there obviously has to be some kind of check. Now, why isn't it carried out when you board the train the first time? And why do you have to change trains at the border? The title is a hint.
 
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When the first train tracks where being constructed in Sedunn and Ezervölgy, different national standards on track gauge where adopted. This happened all over the world. Over time, the standards among many nations where aligned to allow smoother travelling. This never happened between Sedunn and Ezervölgy, the reason is that neither nation wanted crossing the border to be smooth. At all.

Trains couldn't only provide fast transports for tourists, but for soldiers too! During the war between the nations in 1884-1885, troops in millions were mobilised with some immodest help by train transports. What if the enemy simply could've sent tens of thousands of troops past your defenses without you realising it until it was too late? Horror!
 
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Sedunnic troop transports early in 1894

 
The threat of a coup de main by train was real well into the mid 20th century. The decades following the Great War (where the two nations actually didn't fight each other!) saw a thaw in relations and an increase in mutual trust, but the difference in track gauge was kept, possibly as some kind of symbol or final assurance. In 1989, in an effort to increase transparency, the Sedunnic military declassified documents containing invasion plans of Ezervölgy. The plans, pre-dating the Great War, involved special trains constructed with the Ezervölgyi standard. (The army had been fully motorised by then anyway...)

Despite the complicated process of crossing the border by train, hundreds of thousands of travellers do it annually. The cost of the special border crossing procedure in time and money is, shall we say, not too humble. The issue has been raised many times. And actually, we might see some changes soon! During the elections in Sedunn last year, the current government parties promised to address the issue. The question is, are Sedunn and Ezervölgy ready?


Kerrt Sruilynn is a reporter for the Vilue International.



Reizen: The story of the Reizen Civil War
By Isaki Kurenai
Published by the Imperial Tribune

 
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Desperate Defenders of Ikireijin rest in the trenches
 
More than 600,000 Frosts have lost their lives in seven-and-a-half months of armed conflict, which began with anti-government protests before escalating into a full-scale civil war. Over 6 million others have been forced from their homes as forces loyal to the Reizen Democratic Party (RDP) and those opposed to the RDP battle each other. This is the story of the civil war so far in 6 short chapters.

1. Peaceful Protest to violent uprising
Pro-democracy protests erupted in the Summer of 2017 throughout the capital of Zero City on Zett Island after the guilty verdict of 28 teenagers who joined an extremist group to fight for the restoration of democracy in Reizen Province. After Pro-Oligarch protesters beat demonstrators, injuring several, more took to the streets.
The unrest triggered nationwide protests demanding the removal of the oligarchic government and instituting free elections. The Oligarchy’s use of force to restore order merely hardened the protesters’ resolve. By Mid-August, hundreds of thousands were protesting across the province. Opposition supporters eventually began to band together and initially called themselves the Reizen Democratic Party and caught the eye of Prince Itami F. Firenze
 
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Initial gains of the RDP
 
2. Descent into civil war
Prince Itami F. Firenze lobbied passionately on behalf of the Reizen people urging the Kensei Administration to accede to the demands of free and fair elections in Reizen. Eventually the Kensei administration compromised and ordered the Reizen Oligarchy to negotiate with the RDP. However, negotiations broke down after a surge in violence and the inability to agree on a timetable for free and fair elections.

The Country descended into civil war when the Reizen Military garrisons defected to the RDP and launched a full-scale coup in the province. Rebel Brigades were formed to bolster defecting Reizen Military personnel battle Frost Government forces for control of cities, towns, and the countryside.

By October 2017 the Frost government said over 300,000 people had been killed in the conflict. By March 2018 the figure had climbed to almost 1 million, according to activists and the Frost Government.

The war is now more than just a battle between those for or against RDP. It has acquired ideological overtones, with the gradual fragmentation of the RDP along political lines. The rise of Reizen Communist movement, Worker’s Party of Reizen (WPR), and the nationalist separatists, Reizen Independence Movement (RIM) have added a further dimension to the war.

 
 
"negotiations broke down after a surge in violence and the inability to agree on a timetable for free and fair elections"

3. War Crimes
A non-governmental commission of inquiry has found evidence that all parties to the conflict have committed war crimes including murder, and torture. However, the inquiry has also found evidence that the RDP have committed enforced disappearances. Both sides have also been accused of using civilian suffering, like blocking access to food water and health services via naval blockade or sieges, as a method of war.

The International Community has demanded all parties negotiate an end to the war, but civilians continue to die in the thousands. Many have been killed by barrel bombs dropped by rebel aircraft in the city of Ikireijin and Jakobsdal- attacks which the Frost Empire says constitute massacres. Meanwhile the RDP have claimed that Frost Naval Missile strikes on RDP positions during the Second Battle of Jakobsdal killed countless civilians fleeing to the Reizen Interior.

The Worker’s Party of Reizen and Reizen Independence Movement have also been accused by the Reizen Democratic Coalition and Frost central government of waging a campaign of Terror. They have inflicted severe punishments on those who break or refuse to accept its rules including hundreds of public executions and beatings. Both organizations have carried out mass killings of rival armed groups, members of the Frost Military, and civilians.

4. Humanitarian crisis
Over 2.2 million people have fled Reizen since the start of the conflict. Most have fled for the relative safety of the Kingdom of Sedunn, Ezervolgy, Erinor, Imperial Union’s Siculite islands, Frost Islands, Gi-Land, Resentine, Pax Dracon and Huawan. An additional 3.5 million people are internally displaced inside Reizen Province, 1.1 million were driven from their homes in December 2017 alone. Two of the warring parties have compounded the problems by refusing humanitarian agencies access to civilians in need. Up to 3.6 million people in Reizen live in hard-to-reach areas.
 
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Current map of the Reizen Civil War
 
5. Rebels and the rise of factionalism
The armed rebellion has evolved significantly since the defection of the Reizen garrison. Pro-democracy soldiers are now outnumbered by communists and nationalists whose brutal tactics have caused global outrage. In the political arena opposition groups are also deeply divided with the disintegration of the RDP into three factions vying for supremacy. The most prominent is the Reizen Indepence Movement whose fighters own a vast swath of Southern Reizen. Second is the Worker’s party of Reizen whose grass roots propaganda efforts and terror campaign allowed them to hold onto Central Reizen. The minority Reizen Democratic Coalition, a loose coalition of pro-democratic militias and moderate Reizen garrison defectors, have largely been pushed out of the mainland and are largely relegated to the Capital and are struggling to hold onto Reizen Island in the West.

6. Peace efforts
With neither side able to inflict a decisive defeat, the international community has urged a political solution to the Reizen Civil war. The Frost Empire has used the World Forum to bolster their evacuation efforts and request international aid. Talks in the World Forum have yet to kick off as a result of a delay in the political decision making of committees. However, the minority Reizen Democratic Coalition and Frost Empire are gradually accepting each other as temporary allies to fight against the fanatical RIM and WPR.



Peocracy to seek uniform healthcare work standards
 
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Doctor Valentine, the chosen deputy chair of the WF Health Committee informs of a Peonic proposal to the WF Health Committee immediately upon formation.

With uniformed standards, medical professionals between two states or more are much more able to provide practice between one another. Implementing the proposal would mean a serious budget cut in orientation of foreign healthcare workers and ensure that standards of practice are uniformly high between member WF states. It would also mean that humanitarian aid procedures would be much more streamlined.

However, opponents also rise within the Peonic borders and the council itself. Many cried out that while standards of practice may benefit, it would be much more costly to develop and train medical professionals and as well as a switch in preference towards broad focus rather than specialization in a certain field. Further arguments to the proposal also say that each nation has its own epidemiologies, its own endemic diseases and its own language of use. Furthermore, the medical dosages and types that each country prefers varies between states. In short, abolishing the orientation between foreign MPs may have a large consequence in the future, and that some countries may not be ready to implement it just yet.

The Peocracy has one of the largest healthcare facilities and houses the best medical services in the entire South Pacifican continent. With a constant improvement and augmentation of service, as well as a slight monopoly in innovating new medical technologies. Its critical standards that has become the world benchmark makes the Peocracy severely outspoken in the field of medicine internationally.

The World Forum was established in 2017, but subsequent delays in talks and negotiations has led to a a slow development of events, resulting in constant pushbacks in the timeline.


 
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Contributors
@Qwert: Editor, Train track gauge - a matter of national security
@Imperial Frost Federation: Reizen: The story of the Reizen Civil War
@Hammerstar: Peocracy to seek uniform healthcare work standards


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