The Democratic Republic of the Peloponnese

History

The history of our nation began on the first day of the plague. People say that fire filled the skies, and that blood rained down from the skies. I think that they’re just full of it; we had more blood than we could deal with down here already. Blood was everywhere, on everyone: the terrified street urchin, the poor Catholic minister who thought that God could protect him, on the weeping soldier forced to 'inoculate' hundreds of infected children… On the teeth of the snarling thing trying to break down your door.

The infection was, and still is, a fairly unknown entity; a nameless, faceless creature that is the source of all of our misery. In its own way, it has almost gained a sense of divinity: some people revile it as the devil, while some worship it as the herald of a new age in human history. However, I, like most people, just saw it as an obstacle to overcome. The first few months were pandemonium. Everyone thought they knew everything about the virus: talking heads outnumbered the very undead we fought in those early days. People stayed glued to their television screens, waiting for more information on how to fight the plague and stay safe. Ironically, I think that this may have killed a fair amount of people in the long run, as people watched the TV so much, waiting desperately for some chimp in a suit to give’em orders, that they forgot about the basics: board up your windows, stockpile food and weaponry, and stay quiet. My neighbors had the TV turned up so loud that first day, it was practically a goddamn beacon for the things! They didn’t make it. Good riddance; the wife was a sadist, and her spouse had some pretty gross tastes in… 'partners.'

Countries started falling like dominoes within a few months. The first countries were places like Georgia and the Ukraine: places that barely passed as third-world hell-holes, and had militaries so weak that you could spit on their prime minister and all they’d do is have the UN give you a trade embargo. Japan fell just before the 5th month. Not too surprising, if you know the facts. Huge population? Check. People crammed together? Check. Puny military? Oh God, check. Even with those paranoid Americans donating so much of their military, it’s still about as shocking as the sun rising. America… America made the world want to lose hope. Those bastards were supposed to know what they were doing! They were supposed to rebuild the planet, so everything could go back to normal and so some Yankee could make a stupid movie about it!

Their fall, worst of all, was completely televised. The world saw every single moment of pain and cruelty. Every line of infantry falling back in panic. Every tank squadron buried alive beneath mountains of infected. Every refugee family screaming for their god’s love as they were eaten alive, and the crew just stood in silence, watching them perish. The Yanks were confused. The battles of New York, Los Angeles, Utah… All of them failed. One by one, the Nuclear Giant fell apart.

The last blow, America’s final stand and its legacy, came, fittingly with a mushroom cloud. From silos across the Continental US, hundreds of nuclear weapons- tactical, strategic, whatever- fell across the country, blowing apart cities, obliterating mountain ranges, destroying National Parks: I thought the worst part was when they blew up Yellowstone. I married my sweetheart there, before we moved back to Greece. I loved that place.

It’s been fifty years since that terrible day when the US sounded its last battle cry. Ever since, strange things have happened. The infected have begun to diversify. People have gained strange new powers. And the world just keeps on changing, including the political atmosphere.rnrnToday marks the official start of the Democratic Republic of the Peloponnese. There had always been a Hellenic Superiority party, filling the streets with noise and crying out for a Greek Master Race, but now their voices got louder. As communications failed and people began to forget if the rest of the world existed, they renamed themselves the Peloponnesian Superiority Party, and swept into office like a tidal wave. People are saying that they’ll do for Greece what FDR did for America. I say that Hitler would be a more accurate definition.

About twenty years ago, when our actual democratic Greek government existed, a satellite was sent into space to see what remained of civilization. For one year, it orbited Earth, and showed a startling development: the lights were dying. Our eyes bore witness to a shocking vision. When the recording started, the world still had over 30% of its landmass with light. By the end of the footage, that percentage had dropped to 29%. Our government promised to rekindle those lights, 'paving the way for civilization once more.' But I’ve seen their party’s secret paramilitary units. I’ve watched them parachute into quiet little villages in the night over in Germany or Italy (they love to raid Rome, for obvious reasons). Once there, they burn, torture, rape, and enslave the locals for testing and labor. Any dissident back home meets the same fate. My time must be drawing near, myself. I’ve spoken against them for so long… I used to have friends, family- a life. However, the party has destroyed us. Every year, my circle of comrades gains a few vacant seats. Every day, more of my countrymen become ignorant savages devoted to making the rest of the world feel their pain. I am old now, and can’t keep fighting… But hopefully I’ve reached you. Goodbye.

-This was the final lecture of Journalism Professor and amateur philosopher Adrastos. He was detained by the Democratic Republic Stormtroopers and sentenced to death by Prime Minister Abaddon for Public Opposition of the Government.

Structure

The DRP government structure is built around a structure ranging between something from Robert Heinlein’s Starship Troopers, the Catholic Church, and Nazi Germany, with a little touch of the Soviet Union under Stalin for some flavor. At the head of the government is the Prime Minister, who is the de facto dictator and head of the state religion. There has been some speculation from more rebellious political groups about the possibility of a body controlling him, but his power looks (at least so far) absolute. Almost all of the nation’s infrastructure is built around creating, fighting, and maintaining a state of war. The food industry is directly under the control of the government, who use simple and inefficient farming methods to create as many crops as possible. This wears out the soil very quickly, which has led to a policy of 'agricultural expansion,' where they have invaded other nations in the hopes of gaining more land for crops. Likewise, most jobs have to do with the manufacture of weaponry and other paraphernalia of war. Many people have advised against this type of economy, stating that it would be impossible to sustain in a peaceful world. However, the government manages to keep the economy afloat during rare moments of peace by starting wars between other countries nearby, and selling weapons to both sides, thus sustaining the economy and weakening nearby enemies for later annexation. Most food and other essentials go to the armed forces; what’s left over is rationed to the civilian populace, but may be reclaimed by the DRP at any point. In order to gain the right to vote or hold office, a citizen must have served in the military. However, since much of the examination doctrine is based off of political views, mostly only party loyalists get in, and those few dissidents who slip through the cracks are usually found and brought to 'justice.'