Novistrana
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Novistrana (Russian: Новострания, "New Country") is a fictional Soviet breakaway state featured in the computer game Republic: The Revolution. It has been created with groundbreaking graphic detail, and is highly reminiscent of other recently post-Soviet countries in the design of its buildings and the naming of its streets and suburbs.
Novistrana has three playable cities: Ekaterine, Pugachev and Berezina, although other cities, such as Pallasovka, are mentioned in the game, or otherwise play significant roles without being visited by the player. Ekaterine is a small town, Pugachev is a major city and Berezina is the Novistranan capital.
Novistrana is ruled by Vasily Karasov, a former KGB officer. His draconian rule makes use of torture, oppression and corruption, and as a result his country is rife with disruption and poverty. Within the game, it is made abundantly clear that Karasov has no interest in leadership, and only maintains himself in power for the benefits of the position. He gambles with the nation's treasury and hosts lavish balls and feasts for his political allies across the nation, in order to insulate them from worsening conditions. The country is sliding deeper into chaos and poverty, with the ex-KGB Secret Police terrorising dissidents who oppose Karasov. Political dissent is tolerated, barely, but political parties are not to be formed outside of the Government's own Party, and all political leaders, dissidents, and thinkers are required to join the Party, or go through Party channels to seek policy change. Although for the purposes of gameplay, the factions do operate high-profile campaigns and carry out acts of defiance with only occasional, plot-scripted acts of repression carried out by Karasov during the course of the game.
The United Nations has noted potential human rights abuses in Novistrana, but none of these investigations has been followed up, due to a combination of factors such as Novistrana's relatively small population and geopolitical unimportance and its relative geographic isolation in a mountainous former Russian province. Although in the later stages of the game, one of the possible options on the road to removing Karasov's regime is to report Karasov's human rights abuses to the UN's envoy in Novistrana, resulting in the deployment of UN peacekeepers in Berezina.
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[edit] Language and location
The official language of Novistrana is Novistranan, a fictional language which is sort of a cross between all the Soviet tongues. However, the "language" as spoken in-game is merely garbled sounds spoken with a Russian accent, although some apparently Russian- or Ukrainian-influenced phrases can be picked up if one listens carefully.
The country has its own news agency, airline, and flag. Although the precise location of Novistrana is never given, there are several clues as to where it could be situated. The alphabet used throughout the country is clearly derived from Cyrillic (although it must be noted that it is a composite, rather than an actual alphabet), which suggests the country is unlikely to be located near the Baltic Sea. The heavy use of very unusual Cyrillic characters suggests a south-easterly location (comparable with Georgia or Azerbaijan), though it is possibly due to Novistrana's long history as an isolated sub-Russian region or vassal. The population is entirely White European, with a relatively high prevalence of blonde hair and Russian, Ukrainian, and Polish names that would seem to indicate Slavic rather than Caucasian ethnicity. Although politically Novistrana is perhaps comparable to Belarus, the cultural evidence in the game suggests a Trans-Caucasian republic, bordering Georgia. This is supported by the presence of a restaurant in south Ekaterine, which is labelled as 'serving the cuisine of neighbouring Georgia'. There are other such hints and references which give credence to possible locations, such as a popular Ekaterine restaurant named "Napoleon's Folly", which is stated to be housed in a historic building where Russian troops held off the French army at a critical bottleneck until supply routes could be reopened and reinforcements arrive, thus helping to slow or prevent the continued Napoleonic advance into Imperial Russia. The Churches and Priests in Novistrana are Eastern Orthodox, ruling out the possibility of Novistrana being a Central Asian Muslim country. There seems to be very little religious, ethnic and cultural diversity otherwise, reinforcing the idea that Novistrana is, indeed, very small, and probably highly isolated. It can be clearly observed that it exists in a mountainous region, as mountain ranges dominate the horizon in nearly all directions. A curious custom to shake hands with the left hand seems to predominate among Novistranans.
[edit] Political ideologies and factions
Novistrana has a relatively simple public ideology system in-game, where the ideologies of Novistranans are generally influenced by their class or career. The force ideology is most common among the Novistranan working classes. They live on industrial estates, marked by crowded terraced housing, high-rise apartment buildings, factories, warehouses and basic shops. These areas in particular suffer from poverty and crime. Force factions using crime, violence, intimidation and union action are most able to gain support in force districts. High profile military officers, union officials, policemen and criminals often live in these areas and will join force factions.
Meanwhile, the influence ideology is most popular among the middle classes. Middle class influence areas typically have fairly large houses, student apartment blocks and good shops. Influence factions using protest, campaigning and public addresses are more able to gain support in these areas. Politicians, acamedics and men of the cloth working for influence factions often live in these areas.
Finally, the upper classes generally carry wealth ideology. They live in beautiful rich areas, marked by large mansions, luxury apartment blocks, open green parks and luxury shops. Government ministries are also often found in wealth areas. In these areas, wealth factions using campaigning, business deals and media propaganda are most able to gain support. Businessmen, journalists and celebrities working for wealth factions are often found in these areas.
There are a variety of factions seeking power in Novistrana, with several in each city. The player's own faction must compete with the other factions. These include:
- Union of Socialist Workers: A corrupt criminal organisation run by Ekaterine police officers, disguised as a worker's union (force ideology)
- Konstantino Cartel: A national business cartel seeking to equalise living standards between East and West in the 1990s, run by Alexei Konstantino (wealth ideology)
- Democracy Now Party: A popular pro-democracy party in Ekaterine, which is destroyed in Alpha squad raids early on, run by Robert Tarasov (influence ideology)
- Church of Novistrana: regional incarnation of the Eastern Orthodox Church, conservative and family-values oriented, though wielding significant power for obvious reasons (influence ideology)
- Red Mafiya: Ruthless Novistranan Russian Mafia branch in Pugachev (force ideology)
- Organised Anarchy: student anarchist movement in Pugachev and Berezina (influence ideology)
- New Peace Party: Breakaway faction from player's party in Pugachev (varying ideology)
- The President: President Vasily Karasov's faction in Berezina. Powerful and ruthless (wealth/force ideologies)
- Alexashenko's Army: corrupt, rogue military faction in Berezina, run by General Alexashenko (force ideology)
[edit] Politics
Novistrana is a Presidential Republic, with President Vasily Karasov in complete control. Novistrana's acting Prime Minister is Illarion Gusev, military commander-in-chief and leader of the Secret Police. Novistrana does have a parliament, indicated by the Member of Parliament rank for political characters and the profile of one of the MPs suggest that they are indeed elected by the public, although how fair the elections are would be questionable given the nature of Karasov's rule. In any case, the Parliament does not have much power and is presumably just an advisory body to Karasov and his cabinet. All three playable cities feature a number of ministries, with the main ministries located in Berezina.
Local government councils in Novistrana consist of elected councillors and unelected officials. Mayors of towns and cities are essentially absolute rulers appointed by Presidential Commissions.
[edit] Security forces
Novistrana's military is probably fairly small, but is central to Novistranan society and pride and plays a significant role in events in the game. The military is run by the Ministry of Peace (equivalent to a Ministry of Defense) from its small office in Ekaterine and its larger ministry in Berezina. Berezina also contains the National Guard House, a base that is home to the President's loyal National Guard units. A Kalashnikov variant, possibly an AK-47, seems to be the main weapon among the Novistranan security forces. Vehicles of the security forces include GAZ jeeps, 'Warthog' armoured cars, BTR-84 APCs, T-80 tanks and Hind helicopter gunships. Novistranan army vehicles are coloured green. Novistrana's elite Special Forces unit is known as the Alpha Squad, travelling in Warthogs and armed with MK5 sub-machine guns. Most military personnel wear Khaki or camoflauge combat uniforms, while senior generals were formal dress. It seems that corruption is major issue in the Novistranan military, with units (particularly those under General Alexashenko) engaging in mercenary contracts, illegal arms sales, protecion rackets and drug dealing in order to fund themselves instead of relying on the meagre funds handed to them by the government.
Novistranan police rank and file officers wear grey tunics, while Sergeants and more senior officers wear black uniforms. The police drive Ivano Neva cars, although they drive a faster, modified variant. Policemen are equipped with batons and a pistol common in Novistrana that resembles a Tokarev TT-33. Novistrana also has a paramilitary police force, consisting of troops in urban camoflauge with grey military vehicles. Novistrana's police force is plagued with corruption, with many officers involved in crime or more loyal to factions than they are to Karasov's government. Brutality is another issue, with officers often using excessive force against suspected criminals. Novistrana's security forces also contain the fearsome secret police, who repress dissidents at President Karasov's will. In Berezina there is a Ministry of Intelligence, Novistrana's foreign intelligence service, although its activities are not well known, apart from a failed assassination against a Ukrainian mafia leader.
