Pilar

Pilar is a small nation with citizens primarily of German ethnicity whose religion is Mahayana Buddhism. It is a backwards nation when it comes to technology and many refer to it unkindly as a 'Third World Nation'. Its citizens enjoy freedom from high taxation and as a result tend to earn more money. The citizens of Pilar work diligently to produce Cattle and Rubber as tradable resources for their nation. It is a very passive country when it comes to foreign affairs and has no interests in war. When it comes to nuclear weapons Pilar will not research or develop nuclear weapons. Pilar allows its citizens to openly protest their government and keep their freedom of speech, even if it means violence, because the government believes that it is best to always be on the cutting edge of rule to keep citizens happy. It has an open border policy, but in order for immigrants to remain in the country they will have to become citizens first--Pilar has a running programme of establishing visas and overseeing applications.

Because of the humanitarian endeavours of its ruler and the national religion of Mahayana Buddhism, the government gives whatever is necessary to help others out in times of crisis, even it means hurting its own economy. Pilar will not make deals with another country that has a poor history of inhuman treatment of its citizens, and the country is proud to say that it has the highest per capita number of humanitarian aid workers than any other nation in the world.

Pilar is a proud member of GATO.

History
In comparison to other countries, Pilar is a very young nation, having started just after the Black Plague swept through Europe. Despite having such a short history to go by, Pilarians, even ex-patriots, tend to be very proud of what their nation was and what they hope it will be.

Early History
Pilar, a tiny country in the middle of the Indian Ocean, was first settled in the mid-1300s by a group of mixed German and Swiss citizens escaping their plague-ravaged continent. The settlers travelled by foot from the centre of Europe to the Sinai Peninsula, where they caught ships down the coast of Africa. Although some settled in Madagascar, most continued out to the tiny islands in the middle of the ocean. It is said that they hoped to find Indonesia, famous for fine spices, but charted their voyage incorrectly and ended up far below where they were planning on going, hitting the chain of islands making up Pilar rather than sailing the extra thousands of miles to reach Indonesia.

The country itself, although founded by German and French speakers, is named for the Virgin Mary in Spanish, Nuestra Señora del Pilar (Our Lady of the Pillar). According to legend, the Virgin appeared to St James at a location in Spain along the Ebro River where there was a basilica that one of the settlers visited when stricken with the plague and miraculously healed. Impressed by his story, the other settlers decided to call their nation Pilar, in the hopes that it would be blessed by the Virgin and all the saints to protect it from the plague that was bringing so much destruction and death to their homeland.

Modern History
In the late 1800s, Pilar received a highly unexpected rush of Japanese settlers following the opening of Japan to foreign trade. The culture was, for a short time, extremely novel and popular, but very little has held on except for the state religion. Despite being a nation very tied to the Roman Catholic tradition, by the early 1900s, Pilar was a mostly Buddhist country. When Chinese began entering after the Communist Revolution in their own country, the religion became even more widely practised, and finally, when the Vietnam War was being fought, refugees from the former Indochina made their way into Pilar, making the Buddhist prevalence over 70%.

Although a monarchy since the early days of the country, in the 1960s and 1970s, there was a huge revolution that brought about a republic in Pilar. The Pilar Republic remained until the late 1990s, but the economy had never recovered from the revolution and the very out-of-touch Pilarians found themselves increasingly behind the times with very little money to bring themselves up to the world stage in terms of industrialisation and technology. Millions left the country to pursue other means in other countries, and finally, in 2006, the Parliament found that it was in dire straits. Listening to their constituents, the Parliament decided to bring back the monarchy to establish a national figurehead, someone that all Pilarians could look up to as the perfect portrait of everything their country stood for. Searching the national records, the Parliament found that the great-great-great grand-niece of the fabulous Empress Magdalena III still resided in the country as the daughter of a governor of a small province and immediately dubbed her the Grand Countess of Pilar, a new title created just for her.

Currently, many citizens are pleased with this change. Tabloids are already picking up on the royal gossip, concerning themselves and the public about Adia I's love life, the status of royals in exile, and more.

Monarchy
The great part of Pilar's history has been under the watchful government eye of a monarch. The first Emperor of Pilar was Emperor Wolfgang I, who came to power in 1382, and every single monarch since his reign has been related to him through blood. Pilar has no rules regarding gender in their rulers, and typically there is not a set heir apparent until all children of a ruler are of age. If the ruler dies when the children are young, the eldest child automatically receives the title 'emperor (or empress) presumptive' until the royal council can make the determination regarding which child or relative is best suited to the throne. Beginning in the early 1800s, Pilar became a constitutional monarchy, and this form of government stayed in place until the late 20th century.

Magdalena III
Perhaps the most famous of the monarchs of Pilar is the illustrious Magdalena III, for whom the capital city of Magdalena is named. Although she was the twenty-third monarch of the country and even the third with her same given name, Magdalena III stands out amongst the rest for her strengthening of the country with the establishment of a constitutional monarchy, in which the day-to-day matters of government are decided by an elected body. Veto power was still held by the gregarious and intelligent Magdalena, but she had the trust of her countrymen, so little unhappiness resulted.

Magdalena was brought into the monarchy quite suddenly at the age of sixteen after the unexpected death of her father, Emperor Thiery V. As the oldest living child of Thiery, she was put in charge before she'd even finished secondary school. Despite her position, at age eighteen, she was sent to India for the required two years of humanitarian service instituted by the government under her father. When she returned, her focus was more on the happiness of her people rather than the power that her family held as monarchs. Within a few months, the first national elections took place to elect the representatives in the newly created Parliament, finally bringing government decisions to the people of the country rather than keeping it in just a few hands.

Her governmental changes were so monumental and so highly regarded, when she died at the age of 89 in 1893, the national mourning period lasted for three weeks.

Magdalena's coronation is celebrated as a yearly national holiday called Coronation Day. It is held on 21 November.

Unfortunately, despite all the wondrous changes that she brought about, Magdalena never had any children, so after her death, the crown went to her younger brother, who became Emperor Uwe II. The line continued through him to his son, Marcus I, and in turn to his son, Theiry VI. There was not another female regent until the placement of Countess Adia I in the early 2000s, and in that case, Adia's line came from Magdalena's sister Agatha, so many are hoping that the bad genes are all connected to the Y chromosome, as all relations of Uwe II have turned out to be horrendous rulers.

The current ruler is connected to Magdalena through Countess Agatha, her daughter Adalia, and her daughter Constance, Adia I's mother.

Thiery VI
In stark contrast to the popularity of Magdalena III, Thiery VI goes down in Pilarian history as the worst ruler ever. The great-great grandson of Magdalena, Thiery was more interested in personal power than the happiness of his people. In what can only be referred to as a 'rape,' the Emperor took not only land and business from the people under his control, he also began taking in their women, claiming that in their religion and in the history of their country, the practise was widespread and acceptable. Outraged, the citizens began to elect Parliament members who powerhoused against him, so Thiery simply disbanded the Parliament, making all decisions from his estate in the seaside village of Jude.

From Jude, Thiery VI stood blissfully by, spending his days at the well-guarded private beach with his wife and three children. Although he was briefed daily on the newest developments in the capital city and the rest of the island, all news was basically ignored. He had no interest in his people and found himself more concerned with the family jewellery, land holdings, and divinity. After only a few months, his followers had dwindled down to a handful, most of whom were his personal bodyguards.

The Emperor was finally assassinated five years after the disbandment. It is believed that he was killed by one of his bodyguards when he was at the beach, but his body has not been recovered. Countess Adia I has an ongoing investigation into its location so that she might return his body to her still-grieving great aunt, HIH Duchess Hannalore of Pilar, who is in exile in Germany, her home country, with her three children.

When Adia I came to the throne, she was pressed to sign a bill that stated if she were to die suddenly, neither HIH Duchess Hannalore nor her children could make claim to the throne of Pilar. Urged by her council and personal assistant to sign the bill, she finally did so, and by signing, stripped her aunt and cousins of all power and titles. Considering that Hannalore and her children have settled into a normal life in Germany, this is not too bad of a punishment, and it is typically overlooked that because Hannalore remarried once moving to Germany, she automatically gave up all claim to the throne.

Adia I
Adia I is the first monarch to rule in Pilar since the Revolution. Her current task is to restructure the failing economy and revitalise the destroyed infrastructure and technology. Although plagued with poor financing and a cripplingly low literacy rate, the young monarch is extremely hopeful about the future of her country and considers one of her greatest role models to be her great-great-great aunt, the Empress Magdalena III.

Although young at 21 years of age, Adia is considered almost painfully old-fashioned when it comes to the culture of her country. Known as 'the old maid' to the tabloids, Adia prefers to be dressed in the heavy silks and stifling corsets that defined the monarchy's fashion for so long. She is well trained in native dance, cooking, manners, and language, and always has a very calm air about her. It is a matter of concern to her subjects, however, that the Countess shows very little interest in suitors, instead spending most of her time studying or holding conferences in her chambers. She is a stunningly mousy woman, preferring to be quiet and listen to grievences rather than fight over topics. She has a great brain for problem-solving, however, so once the crowds disperse, she is more than happy to explain the answers to anything anyone asked her during conference.

Because of her shyness, most of the questions and concerns about the government and royal family are directed to her head assistant, Aiden Zaragoza. The luckiest people are those who can get Zaragoza's ear, because like the adage that the quickest way to a man's heart is through his stomach, the quickest way to the Countess' mind is through her (possible?) lover.

The Countess is popular in the tabloids because of her reknowned, yet offbeat, beauty. She has very long, dark red hair and blue-green eyes. Her skin is very pale, and that is usually very noticeable because of the pale dresses she is so fond of wearing. Unless she is seen in person, most people have no idea what she really looks like because all released pictures of the royal family are hand-colourised, a tradition going back many years in the monarchy. Sources close to her, however, say that the colourisation is nearly spot on, and that Adia really does sort of fade into her clothing.

Establishment
Under the weak but terrifying rule of the current ruler's great-uncle, Thiery VI, the government of Pilar fell apart. Protests went on in the streets, entire city blocks were burned, and huge groups of citizens left the country. Parliament took power and ousted the ruler's family from the country after the Emperor's death. Thiery VI disbanded the Parliament in April of 1978. Within a month, Magdalena was in ruins, the landlines carrying information in large cables under the oceans to other countries were cut, and Pilar's formerly technology-savvy country fell into the darkness. Around the world, rumours circulated that the monarch had okayed testing with nuclear weapons and they had destroyed the tiny but formerly efficient country during an attempt to create a controlled explosion underground. By the time Pilarian ex-pats reached the shores of the closest country, Madagascar, The entire infrastructure of the country was destroyed by fighting between monarchists and republicans.

The revolution continued even after the Emperor's death in early 1984, and it wasn't until 1989 with the fall of the Berlin Wall that the people got their wits about them and released the country from anarchy into a republic. Parliament was elected and kept rule of the country until the early 2000s.

Outcry and Revolution
After a decade of transitioning rulers, the people of Pilar decided that they wanted to have structure once again. The monarchy was re-established with the young Countess Adia I of Behrends, a small island off of the coast of Pilar. Her family, during the First Revolution, fled to Behrends for safety, but given the chance to take back the family name and grace, Adia came forward and was crowned the Grand Countess Adia I rather than Empress Adia the first so that there was a slight break from the previous monarchy. From the moment she was crowned, Adia has taken it upon herself to participate fully in the government's rebuilding of her civil war-torn country, devoting all of her time and resources to rebuilding. At the same time, she must keep an ear out for discontent amongst her new supporters and followers.

Dictatorship
A few months into Adia I's reign, public outcry arose, but it was for a completely different reason. Pleased with her demeanour and skills, the once radical republicans of the country cried out for a dictatorship. On Coronation Day, Adia I was crowned Her Illustrious Highness Grand Countess Adia I of Pilar, and all power was invested in her and her council. The Parliament was disbanded at the same time, and Adia I became the supreme ruler of all of Pilar.

Her youth and previously mentioned shyness have led to her being called 'the reluctant dictator' by most of the media around the world. Unlike the stereotype of a dictator, Adia I is a very underspoken girl who seems more suited to nursing or humanitarian work than the position of supreme dictator of a small Indian Ocean country. Across the world, the question has arisen of whether Adia I is a figurehead for a larger, behind-the-scenes government or if the young woman is actually the power behind the government of Pilar.

Regardless of the controversy, thus far, her citizens are very pleased with this change.

Geography
Despite its tiny size, Pilar has an extremely varied terrain. From the sandy beaches of the shore to the volcanic mountains of the inner island, Pilar is a beautiful and fabulously tropical place. The water off of the coast is a beautiful shade of aqua with coral reefs just below the surface, a favourite place for SCUBA diving tourists.

Most cattle ranching is done around the centre of the island in the valleys between the mountains. There are 177 kilometres of coastline just on the main island. The land is almost 50% arable, but only 3% is used for permanent crops, and another 3% for the pastures needed for Pilarian cattle. 22% of the island consists of forests.

The weather of Pilar is decidedly tropical with warm, dry weather in the spring and fall and hot, humid weather in the winter. During the winter, there is an increased danger of tropical typhoons and cyclones.

Pilar has an ecosystem unlike any other African or Indian country. Whilst there are no native mammals to the island, there are many different endemic plants and animals including beautiful flowering plants and geckoes. At one time, there were many more kinds of flightless birds, but the settlers who first came to Pilar made many kinds extinct by bringing in their common European animals such as cats and dogs.

It has been said that Pilar is one of the most beautiful places on Earth; a famous writer once commented that first Pilar was created, then Heaven, and Heaven was copied from Pilar.

Economy
Pilar's economy is based mostly on the rubber and cattle industries, neither of which are particularly powerful because of the limited amount of space on the island. In the wake of the Revolution, most formerly large cities are now piles of rubble covered over with new land, so many times, people live amongst the cattle that provides all of the meat and fertiliser for Pilar. Despite numerous attempts, Pilar has been unable to cultivate wheat or even catch fish off of their island. Additionally, Pilar has great difficulty finding trading partners because of their lack of improvements such as working harbours and their great distance from other nations.

Despite this, Pilar has recently entered into an economic and political organisation known as GATO. The Countess dearly hopes that this membership will ease the problems plaguing Pilar, and that they will soon be able to import foods such as fish, wheat, and wine, and luxuries such as spices, silver, and gems.

Currently, Pilar's economy is quite in shambles, with most workers getting about eleven Baht a day for work.