APPLICATION
NS Name: Republic of Deblar
RP Name: Republic of Jamaica
Flag:
Capital: Kingston
Territory: Island of Jamaica, Cayman Islands
Population: 1,468,233
Official Language(s):
English, Jamaican Patois/Creole
Ethnic Breakdown:
92.1% Afro-Jamaicans
(incl. 25% mixed Irish Jamaican)
6.1% Mixed
0.8% Indian
0.4% Other
0.7% Unspecified
Religious Breakdown:
68.9% Christianity
—64.8% Protestantism
—4.1% Other Christian
21.3% No religion
1.1% Rastafarianism
6.5% Others
2.3% Not stated
Type of Government: Semi-Presidential Parliamentary Constitutional Republic
Head of State: President Norman Manley
Head of Government: Prime Minister Alexander Bustamante
Legislature (the name of your national legislature):
Jamaican National Parliament
Legislative Houses (if your legislature is bicameral):
Chamber of Lords (Upper House; Directly Elected by Populace)
Chamber of Popular Power (Lower House; Also Directly Elected by Populace
Party in Power:
Jamaican Labour Party, People's National Front (coalition government; each are democratic socialist/social democratic parties respectively)
National Issues:
Recognized by Most by Not Recognized as Legitimately Independent by Some Abroad
Decent but Unstable Economy
Tense Relations with the United Kingdom, Germany
Public Goals:
Insure the Republic's survival, Repair the Economy, establish bilateral relations with more nations
Private Goals:
Gain influence in the Caribbean, Eliminate the Fascist Threat
GDP (nominal): $18.427 Billion USD
Currency: Jamaican Dollar
Economic System: State-Supervised Capitalism
Major Trade Partners: United States, Canada, Cuba, Mexico, Dominican Republic, Haiti
Alliance(s): British Commonwealth (led by Canada)
Military Branches (names of official Armed Forces Branches):
Jamaican Army
Jamaican Navy
Jamaican Marines
Jamaican Coast Guard
(no formal Air Force, largely aerially protected by America, Canada)
Active Duty: 33,575
Reserve Duty: 145,000
Paramilitary: 255,000
Total Manpower: 675,000
Land Forces:
Jamaican land forces are mostly made up of infantry and mobile forces form both the Army and the Marine Corps. Both branches are organized into battalions of around 3,000 troops each, placed under the command of a Presidentially appointed Generals. Guerrilla tactics are often the prioritized doctrine, with some conventional warfare mixed in to create a versatile war strategy. Paramilitary forces are also present to be utilized whenever needed.
Air Force:
Jamaica has some of their own planes that are operated by the Marines and the Navy, but no formal Air Force has yet been created, though this may change soon, as both the President and the Prime Minister have expressed a desire to form one. In the meantime, American and Canadian Air Force bases housing some divisions of each of their respective Air Forces have been maintained in the country as its primary aerial defense.
Naval Forces:
Being an island nation, the navy is a big priority of the Jamaican Armed Forces. The Navy and Coast Guard are the sea-faring branches of the military, and in total, 2 destroyers, 5 frigates, 7 corvettes, and 32 patrol vehicles are under the operation of the navy, while another 3 corvettes and 15 patrol vehicles are under the operation of the coast guard.
Other Military Information:
A good amount of assets have been purchased from either the United States and Canada
History:
Jamaica was first discovered by Christopher Columbus in 1494. Upon discovery, the island was made a Spanish colony, which it remained as until 1655, when the British invaded and occupied the island. During the early colonial period, many African slaves were brought to the island, primarily to work the numerous sugar plantations, and before long, the slaves and their descendants would form the vast majority of the island’s population.
The first acts of resistance against the British where often slave revolts, however these would subside with the abolition of slavery in 1834. Throughout Victorian rule, the island would become semi-industrialized, with the first factories in Kingston being completed by the 1870’s, though the island remained largely agrarian.
Fast forward to the 1930’s and Jamaica has developed quite well, though the local colonial government was rather weak and dominated by white Britons from abroad, and the people felt underrepresented. Plus, there was a lack of worker’s protection from harsh working conditions, though the government was too weak to do anything even if it wanted to. The unhappiness towards the government would boil over in 1938, when a general strike which spilled over into a riot gripped the nation. After review, it was determined that political reforms would be necessary for the Crown Colony of Jamaica. As such , the local government was granted more autonomy, and were able to pass reforms. However, this would do little to improve the Jamaican people’s opinion of their British overlords, as meanwhile, the British had been going forward with the appeasement of Nazi Germany, which was very unpopular in Jamaica. Once war broke out, people were supportive…that is, until the British started losing. The failure of the British to stop the Nazi menace had caused the approval rating of the government to fall to lower than 20%. Upon the surrender to Germany, the people went up in protest, and the colonial government was struggling to deal with the dissent, which would remain high for years.
By 1946, calls for an independence referendum were loud and widespread, and the local colonial government finally gave in, arranging for one to take place in 1947, which was the year India gained independence. This event would only heighten support for complete separation from the British Empire, and come the election, around 85% voted in favor of independence.
Naturally, there was resistance from London, which caused Britain to challenge the legitimacy of the referendum. Although it was found the referendum was indeed legitimate, plus there was the question the was on the minds of almost everyone: “how come India can have independence but we can’t,” a question the British could provide no good answers for. After enough pressure from abroad, with America and others recognizing the result of the referendum, the British would have no choice but to concede, and the results were recognized by Britain. On December 31 of 1947, Jamaica officially declared independence from Britain as the Republic of Jamaica.
In 1948, the first elections would take place to fill in the newly formed government positions in the Semi-Presidential Parliamentary Constitutional Republic that Jamaica became. Two parties, the Jamaican Labour Party and the People’s National Front, who were democratic socialist/social democratic parties respectively, who’d been formed earlier in the decade, would win a 90% majority of seats between the two of them, and Labour’s Norman Manley and the PNF’s Alexander Bustamante would win the Presidency and the Prime Ministership respectively. The two parties formed a coalition government, various laws went into effect, aimed at improving the livelihoods of average people, closing he racial wealth gap, promoting and enforcing egalitarian values, among other things. The current administration is quite popular moving into the present day. Jamaica faces many challenges, such as the decent but unstable economy, lack of bilateral relations with nations outside of the Western Hemisphere, tense diplomatic relations with Germany, and the struggle between Germany and America to get Jamaica, a young and fledgling nation, into their respective spheres of influence. However, despite the many challenges Jamaica may face, they will face them head on as one nation, one people, and one Republic.
RP Example(s): viewtopic.php?f=31&t=505287&p=38760018#p38760018
Do not remove - 1952RP
