View source for Madland

==The Many Names of Madland==
- The Kingdom of the Union of Madland (2002)
- The Kingdom of the Union of Madland and its corresponding Empire
(2002-2004)
- The Province of Madland (8/1/2004 - 10/15/2004)
- The Empire of the Madlandians (2004)
- The Empire of the Alexandrians (2004)

== Madland's founding and background ==
Madland was officially founded by [[Edgard Portela]] in May 7th, 2003.
Its original name of founding was the Kingdom of the Union of Madland.
Soon after the part “and its corresponding Empire” was added to the
name. Madland had been existing already for a year only in the
imagination of Edgard and his brother Gustavo. Edgard had written may
stories of a country called “Alejandria” or Alexandria, in Spanish.
Madland was originally meant to be a constructed world much like
[http://www.zompist.com/virtuver.htm Virtual Verduria].

Madland has been the descendant of many successful offline
micronations. However, so far, Mr. Portela’s luck with offline
micronations has not translated into the Internet.
In one of the most radical reforms in Madlandian history, Madland’s
name was changed to Alexandria in the elections of Nov. 11th, 2004.

== History of Madland ==
=== The Provisional Administration ===
In May 12th, 2002, the national name was changed to the Kingdom of the
Union of Madland and its corresponding Empire as a proposal of newly
elected Prime Minister [[George Lloyd Garter]], founder of the
[[Monarchist Coalition Party]]. Prime Minister Garter stepped down from
the Prime Ministership of Madland in May 21st to allow for Madland's
first elections. George Lloyd Garter (Monarchist Coalition Party, MCP),
[[Katherine Griffes]] ([[Democratic Party of Madland]], DP) and [[Tara
Certa]] ([[Riraippian Party]], RP)ran against each other in this hotly
contested election. 

Despite charges that the election had been rigged,
Katherine Griffes of the DP won the election by an overwhelming 80% of
the vote over her opponents. Many within Madland deeply resented
Griffes' victory, which was widely regarded as a fraud. In May 28th, a
small coup d'etat attempted oust Katherine Griffes. The King/Emperor
declared a national state of emergency and dispatched troops to ensure
that the people responsible were brought to justice. Opposition leader
Tara Certa was imprisoned and tried, but found not guilty. Madland's
political landscape kept on turning more and more complicated and
violent and in June 1st, the King/Emperor was forced to call for
elections again. 

Tara Certa of the Riraippian Party won the elections
narrowly to George Lloyd Garter. She set out to build a "germ-free
Madland", but soon she saw her administration embroiled in scandal when
evidence was published that the Riraippian Party had rigged the
election. Again, coup threats and civil war were present and the
King/Emperor was forced to call for elections again. The King/Emperor,
determined to avoid the scandals of electoral fraud, set up the State
Electoral Commission to oversee the elections. George Lloyd Garter won
the election in a landslide 70% of the vote.

=== The Garter Administration ===
George Lloyd Garter's Administration was one of the most controversial
in Madlandian history. Despite strong opposition to granting more
self-rule to [[Torruca]] and [[Brunswickton]], he was able to negotiate
an end to the war with the separatists in that region. It was under him
that the [[Commonwealth of Torruca and Brunswickton]] were created.
His course of action in the Torruca and Brunswickton issue caused the
Madlandian Parliament to issue a vote of no confidence on his
government and to the July 19th elections.

=== The July 19th Elections ===
Following the approval of the vote of no confidence in the Madlandian
Parliament, elections were called again. George Lloyd Garter
(Monarchist Coalition Party, MCP), Katherine Griffes (Democratic Party
of Madland, DP) and Tara Certa (Riraippian Party, RP) ran against each
other once more. This election was the most contested one in Madlandian
history. The Democrats and the Riraippians demanded immediate military
action against Torruca and Brunswicton and the repeal of the Commonwealth Act.

The Monarchists retorted with arguments that such actions would lead to
a civil war. Debates and speeches were made for almost two weeks before
the polls opened the morning of July 19th, 2002.
The July 19th elections resulted in the closest election in Madlandian
history and until July 20th, the winner was not known. In the end, the
State Electoral Commission (SEC) declared Katherine Griffes as the
winner.

=== The First Griffes Administration ===
Following the proclamation of the Griffes victory, opponents began
accusing the Democratic party of widespread electoral fraud. Soon after
a small [[SEC]] investigation, it was proved that she indeed had won
the election fairly.

Katherine Griffes soon ordered 100,000 Madlandian troops to invade
Torruca and Brunswickton and started a vote to repeal the Commonwealth
Act in Parliament. Soon after the invasion, public opinion turned
against her as images from the invasion came home. Her own party
supporters and the Riraippian Party proceeded to call on a vote of no
confidence to oust her government. 

Tara Certa of the Riraippian Party
retired from Madlandian politics to protest the vote of no confidence.
Both the Democratic and Riraippian parties were at war within
themselves and with each other.

=== The July Coup ===
In July 22, 2002, Riraippian Party militants with support of the
Monarchists and some Democrats in Parliament, seized the Prime
Minister's mansion and forced Griffes to resign. The King/Emperor
ordered the militants to leave, but met strong opposition. 

Refusing to
abdicate, Griffes was locked in her office until she did so. Running
out of options, a crowd led by Riraippian militants stormed the
[[Palace of Geneva]] where the Queen/Empress Annie was residing at the
time and kidnapped her.

Soon after, Kingdom troops arrived in Geneva and liberated the
Queen/Empress and Prime Minister Griffes (July 24). The King/Emperor
had no choice but to call for national elections for July 29th.

=== The Great Betrayal ===
In July 29th, Madlandians headed off to the polls hoping to bring their
nation into an era of stability. They elected George Lloyd Garter to
the Prime Minister's office.

Soon after his election, Prime Minister Garter handed over his power to
the King/Emperor and declared a state of emergency in response to the
huge massacres and battles in Torruca and Brunswickton. This was seen
as a great betrayal in front of the eyes of Madlandians and George
Lloyd Garter soon retired from politics and left Madland altogether.

=== The Emperor's First Administration ===
From July 29 to September 20, the National State of Emergency haunted
Madland, ruled by the King/Emperor. The Emperor dissolved Parliament
and issued a declaration of intent, saying that he intended to rule
alone. In September 20, Steve Budnick, the new President of the MCP,
was appointed Prime Minister of Madland by the King/Emperor.

=== The Budnick Administration ===
The Monarchist government under PM Budnick was under serious pressure.
It had to deal with the immense task of moving Madland online from its
offline roots. It was PM Budnick’s and the Emperor’s failure to do so
that has thrown Madland into a serious participation issue that plagues
it to this day.

PM Budnick was both one of the most active and inactive Prime Ministers
in Madlandian history. He kept Madland offline rather than move some of
its activity online. Under his tenure, much of the government activity
was transferred to the new ezBoard forums where the Torruca and
Brunswickton Act was passed and formalized the Commonwealth. Madlandian
withdrawal from the Commonwealth was painful and bloody. Also, under
his tenure, the King/Emperor opened Madland up to micronationalism by
establishing very close diplomatic ties with [[Puritania]],
[[Northworthy]] and [[Delvenus]]. 

Under his tenure, the first
Madlandian constitution began to be written mostly by the Emperor and
offline collaborators. He developed Madland’s military machine, but
soon after his departure from office
the force he had built for Madland was dissolved with a constitutional
amendment that renounced to war.

PM Budnick’s term was the longest term that any Prime Minister ever
served. A vote of no confidence by his own party in the reopened
Parliament, the MCP, brought forth elections in March 10, 2003.

=== The March 10th elections ===
The elections of March 10th, 2003 were the first in Madlandian history
that did not end in controversy or fraud. Katherine Griffes ran against
Tara Certa of the Riraippians and Lord Pontmercy of the Monarchists and
won an overwhelming victory over them. The defeated candidates soon
conceded the election and the SEC declared its winner.

=== The Second Griffes Administration ===
The second Griffes administration came into office with many creative
and innovative ideas that would have brought Madland to new heights.
Soon after Griffes was sworn into office, she became inactive and her
supporters online began to look for different leadership. This is where
[[Christina Hasselhoff]], a representative of [[Nubinar]], was elected
to the Presidency of the Democratic Party in March 20th. Under her
tenure, the constitutional amendment to ban war was proposed to the
Constitutional Convention.

In March 23rd, PM Griffes announced her resignation to allow for
elections. Elections never came however, and much of the country was
thrown into turmoil because of the resignation.

=== The Lyons Administration ===
After the resignation of Prime Minister Griffes, Parliament proceeded
to appoint Scott Lyons, a Monarchist, as its Prime Minister. Willing to
work with the MCP and recognizing that her party was very much dead as
a political force; Tara Certa abandoned the Riraippian Party and joined
the MCP as Lyons’ Deputy Prime Minister. Despite being short, the Lyons
administration was one of the most active. 

Under Lyons, the military
grew and became more powerful. Barriers of trade between the Madlandian
states were eliminated and a massive tax overhaul made the economy grow
more. He was active in the writing of the first Madlandian Constitution
and very active in establishing the powers of the King/Emperor.

In March 30th, PM Lyons announced that he was stepping down as Prime
Minister of Madland and soon after retired from Madland altogether. The
MCP then proceeded to elect Tara Certa as its President and Prime
Ministerial nominee to the election that was to come.

=== Royal Intervention, Death of a Party ===
Following the resignation of Prime Minister Lyons, the country was
again thrown into political turmoil. The MCP still had a leader in Tara
Certa, but the Democratic Party was in the midst of a political
catfight between Griffes and Hasselhoff. Elections could not be held
immediately. The King/Emperor then proceeded to name Tara Certa as
Interim Prime Minister of Madland. When this happened, the Riraippian
Party was officially dissolved and eliminated as a political force in
Madland.

=== Treason Scandals ===
Following the appointment of Tara Certa as Interim Prime Minister,
rumors began to circulate of a plot to “kill the King/Emperor”. The
Imperial Supreme Court decided to take up the matter. In a private
trial, it was found that Tara Certa was indeed plotting to oust the
King/Emperor and place herself on the throne of Madland. She was soon
stripped of her titles in Madland and kicked out. She never returned to
Madland.

In April 7th, the MCP elected a new President: [[Christine Pardo]]. She
was a liberal Monarchist and did not really fit into the conservative
principles of the party, but she was its only leader.

=== The Election of April 16th ===
The King/Emperor proclaimed that elections would be held on April 16th,
which was also his birthday. The Democratic Party failed to announce
its candidate and the SEC had to intervene in its political war with
itself and declare Hasselhoff its official candidate. When the polls
opened in April 16th, much of the country had made up its mind and
elected Pardo unanimously (100% of the vote).

=== The Pardo Administration ===
Under the tenure of Christine Pardo, Madland ratified its Constitution
and dismantled its military. Many within the party opposed this and
began to plot a vote of no confidence. But she soon fell to the disease
of inactivity and resigned in April 24th. Following her resignation,
Madland entered one of its darkest periods. Most online activity was
practically reduced to zero.

=== The Dark Age ===
Madland’s first anniversary in May 7th, 2003 was an extremely
bittersweet celebration. Due to the fact that many of the people that
were involved online retired after Pardo’s resignation, Madland’s
online presence was almost entirely dead.

The Madlandian government kept on working offline during this dark
period in Madland’s history.

In May 15th, the King/Emperor unveiled the [[Golden Triangle Reforms]],
aimed at reforming Madland from the root up. Much of the reforms
proposed by the King/Emperor never took hold but one: the suspension of
the Constitution made by Royal Decree in June 29th.

=== The End of the Dark Age ===
Madland’s online presence began to show signs of a possible revival in
early September. In this revival, Madland was determined to restore its
diplomatic ties and became even more involved in Puritania.

The King/Emperor had established and ruled as Grand Duke over a
province in Puritania called “[[New Puerto Rico]]”. New Puerto Rico had
become one of the most affluent and powerful regions of Puritania.
Madland was directly involved in supplying military, economic and
political aid to the development of this province. Soon, New Puerto
Rico had one of the strongest provincial militaries in Puritania and
one of its most vibrant provincial economies.

=== The Communist Coup in Puritania ===
Puritania had begun to struggle with participation and the leader of
the Communist province of [[Arkania]], [[Savinkov]], had become Deputy
Lord Protector under the tenure of Lord Protector [[Austi Scot]].

In October 30th, 2003, Savinkov lead a [[Communist]] coup and took over
Puritania and renamed it the Soviet Republic of Arkania. Soon after the
coup, the King/Emperor began discussing retaliatory actions towards the
Communists in Puritania with representatives of the former Commonwealth
government.

=== New Puerto Rico secedes ===
In October 31st, the King/Emperor traveled to New Puerto Rico and
proclaimed its independence from the Communist regime of Arkania. The
King/Emperor promised that New Puerto Rico would return to Puritania
after the Communists had returned the government to its rightful
leaders.

In November 2nd, the Communist regime of Savinkov came at an end and
the Commonwealth government of Puritania was restored. Following the
restoral, Arkania and another Communist province, [[Mediterranea]],
seceded from Puritania. Lord Protector Austi Scot soon resigned and
participation lowered to an absolute zero in Puritania. 

Negotiations to
bring New Puerto Rico back into Puritania soon stalled and called off
and New Puerto Rico stayed as an independent Grand Duchy under the rule
of Grand Duke Edgard II. This would obviously change since nothing in
micronationalism is ever the same.

=== Madland Joins Antica ===
On Sunday, July 11, 2004, Emperor of Madland, Edgard Portela, initiated
diplomatic discussions with the [[Dinarchs]] of [[Antica]], regarding a
merger between the two nations. After several weeks of discussion and
approval by both nations, they adopted a charter, making Madland a
province of the Dinarchy of [[Antica]]. 

After a short time, the
Empereur of Madland, as he was so entitled under the Dinarchy, decided
to declare Madland's independence. This move did not go over well with
anyone in Antica, and the situation was quickly brought to a close,
with Madland back in place. After some time, a resolution was passed in
the Antican Senate which released Madland from Antica.

MORE HISTORY TO COME...
[[category: International]]