Introduction
Nation:DanHoMe
Region: DanHoMe
Danhome (also called Dahomey in the west) is a historical nation that existed between 1600-1900. It was under French colonial rule during the colonial era. This a a country based on the historical Dahomey, but its history continues not as a colonial state but as an independent nation, which means that this version of the nation never were a French colony.
History
Based in his capital of Agbome, Wegbaja and his successors established a highly centralized state with a deep-rooted kingship cult of sacrificial offerings. These included an emphasis on human sacrifices in large numbers, to the ancestors of the monarch. Human sacrifices were not only made in time of war, pestilence, calamity, and on the death of kings and chiefs, they were also made regularly in the Annual Customs, believed to supply deceased kings with a fresh group of servants.
Four thousand Whydahs, for example, were sacrificed when Dahomey conquered the Kingdom of Whydah in 1727. Five hundred were sacrificed for Adanzu II in 1791. Sacrifices for Gezo went on for days. Human sacrifice was usually by beheading, except in the case of the king's wives, who were buried alive. The king directly owned all land and collected taxes from all crops.
Economically, however, Wegbaja and his successors profited mainly from the slave trade and relations with slavers along the coast. As Dahomey's kings embarked on wars to expand their territory, they began using muskets and other firearms traded with French and Spanish slave traders for young men captured in battle, who fetched a very high price from the European slave merchants.
Under King Agadja (ruled 1708-1732), the kingdom conquered Allada, where the ruling family originated. They thus gained direct contact with European slave traders on the coast.
Even as a tributary state, Dahomey continued to expand and flourish because of the slave trade, and later through the export of palm oil from large plantations that emerged. The king's ownership of all land gave him a virtual monopoly on all trade.
As one of West Africa's principal slave states, Dahomey became extremely unpopular with neighboring peoples. The kings of Dahomey sold their war captives into the Transatlantic slave trade, rather than kill them in the Annual Customs.
In 1890 the French colonial power aggressively attacked the Dahomey to get control over the slave trade and expand their empire in what is come to be called the power Franco-Dahomean war. At first the Dahomey struggled against the militarily superior invaders which won control over the coastline after only two months of fighting. The king became more and more desperate and ordered his generals to draft the peasantry and launch a full scale counterattack to retake the southern provinces along the coastline. The drastic action rallied the people and they managed to retake some of the provinces before the French regained the initiative. Though in the fall of 1891 British ships unexpectedly attacked the French navy to hinder them from expanding their empire, witch in turn left the French without a supply line. in 1892 the country the last French soldiers left the county.
After the war the kingdom managed to revitalize its military and started to export large amounts of agricultural products, gaining a profit which were used to modernize the country
The line of kings continued to rule whiteout any real treat to their reign, due to their divine status. This resulted in a decline in military and security spendings during the whole 20th century. The profits made as a result of the demilitarization were invested in Dahomeys growing public sector and eduction system.
Economy
The nations largest economical asset is its thriving agriculture and electronic industry. About 54% of the national Bnb comes from agriculture while 23% comes from the electronic industry. In recent year the nation has invested in the deign industry. Most of the new designed products are furniture which is supplied to other African nations and the Asian market, this mainly thanks to the invitation of international designers and young artists from other countries on the African continent.
The economical system is a mixture of a publicly owned welfare, a system which partially extends to the agricultural part of the economy. The free market is strongly regulated against large corporations, to prevent them from using the people and government for their own goals, Smaller local businesses are in turn favored and given economical privileges.
Average income: 2250 Don
Currency: DON ( 1 Don = 0,5 USD)
Military
Traditionally the armies of the kingdom were relatively large and undisciplined, this changed after the second world war and the army were reorganized into smaller elite peacekeeping forces. These , because of tradition, consist of equally male and female soldiers. There are five of these peacekeeping forces which can be sent into war zones around the world. The peace keeping force is divided into two categories , non combat units and combat units, the combat unit mainly protects the noncombatant units which primary mission is to rebuild, act as law enforcers, offer medical care and provide food for the needing and give as much humanitarian aid as possible. Each peacekeeping force consists of 1000 Combat unit soldiers and 3000 non combat unit soldiers.
Armored vehicles and tanks are provided to the peacekeeping forces depending on the mission. The nation has 100 such Armored vehicles to distribute, most of the are older models from the cold war.
Air support can be provided by ten attack planes if needed but it mainly consists of helicopters and cargo planes these are like the vehicles remains from the cold war.
In total the military force numbers 25000 well trained but relatively ill equipped soldiers.
Government and Political Structure
Capital: Cotonou
Government: Theocratic monarchy
Legal system: Supreme court and provincial courts.
Category: Corrupt Dictatorship
Founded: 1600
The name of the state is Dan Ho Me but i s internationality called Dahomey. The Monarch get its support mainly from its divine status as shaman and offspring of the gods. The crown is inherited by the oldest child in the royal family.
The country consists of 23 smaller provinces which is strongly ruled by the central administration.
The most important holiday is the birthday of the monarch naturally varies from monarch to monarch, presently its the fourth of February.
People and Population
Total population: 7,5 million
Minorities: Husa-Fulani, Yourba,Mina, Xueda, and Aja
Religion: No state religion
Median age: 32 years
Literacy: 99,4%
The main part of the population lives in the metropolitan areas along the coastline.
Even thou the government is ruled buy a theoretical monarchy the country has no official religion and religion is freely practice in any form as freedom of religion was established as early as 1933.
Communications
There are two publicly financed television channels and three publicly owned radio stations which are broadcasting nation wide and also are available to the public via the Internet. One privately owned radio station is allowed in each province. The press is otherwise free and Internet is freely provided to all citizens with a computer.Cellphones are common and almost every grown person has one of their own. the infrastructure is well organized but is lacking in the northern regions of the country. The country has two major airports from which 8 million international passages a year arrive.
