Independent Republic of Orange Nations


 * This article concerns the Independent Republic of Orange Nations (IRON) alliance. For information on the iron resource, visit the resources article. (Disambiguation)

The Independent Republic of Orange Nations is a first tier (>10,000 avg. NS) sanctioned alliance. It currently has the greatest average nation strength, in part due to its extensive startup aid programme.

Article 1 - Governance
I. The Republic shall be governed by a Council. The Council shall be the voice of the popular membership to the wider world, as well as ensure the security and stability of the Republic. The Council is charged with overseeing all aspects of governance and of the alliance in general, both foreign and domestic.

II. The Council shall appoint a President to serve as the symbolic head of the alliance. The President is to represent the general will of the populace.

Article 2 - Membership
I. Member Nations accept that membership in the Independent Republic of Orange Nations is incompatible with membership of any other alliance, and as such forsake all other alliances.

II. Member Nations pledge to act in the interests of the Republic and to work to advance the goals of the alliance. All Member Nations are expected to make efforts to contribute to the well-being and continual progress and growth of the alliance. Advancement within the Republic is based upon demonstrated merit.

III. Member Nations accept that they are bound by an oath of confidentiality. As such, they may not reveal internal or confidential information regarding the Republic to any extra-alliance party. This oath remains in effect even after the Member Nation ceases to be a member of the alliance and is effective from the moment they are granted membership.

IV. Any other Nation willing to uphold the principles of the Republic and to contribute to the growth of the alliance may apply for membership. Nations so invited may become a Member Nation by stating their acceptance of this Charter.

Article 3 - Defense
I. An armed attack against one or more Member Nations shall be considered to be an attack against them all. In such an event, the Republic shall collectively take action as deemed necessary by the Council, potentially including the use of armed force, to restore and maintain the security of the alliance and its Member Nations.

II. Member Nations are permitted and encouraged to develop a nuclear capability. However, the use of nuclear weapons in an irresponsible manner is not endorsed. As such, nuclear first strike attacks are strictly prohibited unless their use has been explicitly pre-approved by the IRON Council.

Article 4 - Violations
I. A Member Nation of the Independent Republic of Orange Nations which has attacked a fellow Member Nation or has persistently violated the Principles contained in the present Charter may be expelled from the Republic.

II. A Member Nation discovered belonging to another Alliance or in violation of his oath of confidentiality will be considered to be practicing espionage and expelled from the Independent Republic of Orange Nations. In the case of former Member Nations discovered in violation of their oath of confidentiality a request will be made to the nation’s current alliance for their suspension or expulsion from that alliance so that punitive action may be taken.

III. Any Member Nation of the Independent Republic of Orange Nations against which punitive action has been taken by the Council may be suspended from the exercise of the rights and privileges of membership. Such rights and privileges may only be restored by the Council.

Early History
IRON can trace its early history from the HeavenGames Outside Discussions forum. It was from the OD forums that “The OD Alliance” was formed on March 16th, 2006. Originally IRON was not an Orange Team alliance, but rather a Red Team alliance. In the first weeks of the alliance, there were considerations for moving to the Green or Purple Teams before finally settling on the Orange Sphere. The prevailing theory behind The OD Alliance’s move to the Orange Team was the Citrus War. The aftermath of the Citrus War left a power vacuum in the Orange Sphere which the nascent IRON sought to fill.

However, other debates stemmed from the initial formation of IRON. The alliance was going through an identity change. “The OD Alliance” name would not last and several other names were cycled through. The OD Alliance was renamed twice, first as “The KoRT Alliance” and then as “ACHTUNG.” Finally, it was suggested by Loegaire that the alliance be called the Independent Republic of Orange Nations, or simply IRON.

Additionally, the newly formed IRON lacked a charter or constitution. Early IRON was described by Shan Revan as being “something between anarchy and direct democracy.” IRON needed organization and several prominent members sought to draft a document that would create a framework for the fledgling alliance. The drafters included Shan Revan, Glyndwr, Kith Kanan, and Sister Midnight. After a few days, the discussion stalled until Kith Kanan suggested making use of the NATO charter as a launching point. IRON had its charter. This original charter would stand for nearly two years before being replaced.

All that remained was appointing the first IRON Council. The IRON Council, spare two invitations, was composed of those who worked on drafting the original IRON Charter: Shan Revan, Glyndwr, Loegaire, Ender, Zambaman, Lonsberry, Good Ol MC, Kith Kanan, and Sister Midnight. The first IRON President was Sister Midnight, an individual who had previous experience running successful clans for other games.

Hence, modern IRON was formed. The formation of IRON was announced to Planet Bob on 27 April, 2006. The best historical estimates place the size of IRON at around 60 members with, as Shan Revan states, “a nation strength in the tens of thousands.”

Early Diplomatic Relations
IRON swiftly moved to open diplomatic relations with several alliances on Planet Bob. The first official opening of diplomatic relations was with the Orange Defense Network (ODN), which has stood to this day as a mutually beneficial and successful relationship. IRON sought not to take over the Orange Sphere with force, but to work with other Orange Team alliances in the wake of the Citrus War.

The best historical accounts place the New Pacific Order (NPO) as the second alliance which opened official diplomatic relations with IRON. The NPO sent Bakunin’s Dream and Heft as their first Ambassadors to IRON. While early IRON-NPO relations were somewhat ambivalent, they would eventually smooth out into the friendly relationship as it stands today.

Another notable relationship was with the alliance OPA, which was a like-minded and similarly-sized alliance. IRON’s first ever Mutual Defense Pact was with OPA during this early period, but would only last a month before IRON adopted a policy of “no MDPs,” the precursor to a period of IRON neutrality.

Rising Power in the Antebellum Period
After the Citrus War, IRON found itself in a strong position, both diplomatically and militarily. In its first few weeks, IRON encountered a rapid increase in aggregate nation strength. Part of this was a push toward the rapid development of a nuclear weapons arsenal. Within several weeks, IRON had the most nuclear weapons in the game for a brief period: 80. However, the NPO eventually beat IRON in the race to 100 nuclear weapons.

This arms race took a toll on the early IRON alliance. By rapidly developing nuclear weapons, many nations snubbed economic growth and quickly fell behind the NPO in the nuclear arms race. In the end, the NPO won out due to their world-renowned banking system. However, even though IRON lost this initial arms race, it was still one of the most powerful alliances in the pre-First Great War period.

The First Great War and IRON Neutrality
IRON’s role in the First Great War was not significant to the war’s outcome. Rather, IRON’s influence came to bear after the war through their foreign relations policies. Just days before the outbreak of GWI, IRON signed a Non-Aggression Pact with the NPO. After the outbreak of war, IRON considered breaking this NAP and entering the war, going so far as to notify the NPO of a possible cancellation of the pact. However, this never came to pass and IRON stayed out of GWI.

This is largely agreed upon as the beginning of IRON Neutrality. Seeing how well IRON fared by not entering the war, much of the IRON Council considered neutrality as the best path to alliance growth. Upon consultation with the Green Protection Alliance, Doitzel and Shan Revan advanced the issue of neutrality. For a period, IRON would walk this path of neutrality.

After advancing a policy of neutrality, Shan Revan proposed the creation of a solely neutral block which “had come to [him] in a dream.” The idea was to make a totally neutral, unaligned block capable of defending itself from raids and keeping itself out of major war. The idea was to make the offer to GPA, TOP, and VE, all of which were neutral alliances at the time. However, the idea met great resistance and was never implemented by IRON.

It was after this point that the Independent Republic of Orange Nations became “Independent” again.

Post-Neutrality, the Second Great War, and the Empire
After moving away from neutrality and reasserting itself in foreign relations, IRON found itself in a few minor conflicts in the Second Antebellum period. The most notable of these was the complete destruction of the first coming of Stormfront. Most of these wars were minor conflicts which sought due recourse for offenses against IRON.

Soon after leaving the path of neutrality, the Second Great War had broken out. However, like IRON policy of GWI, the IRON Council of the time declared non-combatant status in the war after a short deliberation. An incident occurred which nearly saw IRON aligning themselves with Legion and ODN in GWII. However, a close cooperative relationship grew between IRON, Legion, and ODN during this same period. The three almost created their own bloc, but decided the better of it in the end, cementing IRON’s neutrality in GWII.

After GWII ended, one of the original IRON Council members, Ender, departed from IRON and, along with Loegaire and Grand Emperor Brian, founded The Empire. The relationship never took off due to many diplomatic spats, including attempted recruitment of IRON members by The Empire. While these spats were tolerated, the discovery of forum hacking in February 2007 was not and the relationship quickly deteriorated, resulting in a joint IRON and NPO attack on The Empire. The result was the complete disbandment of The Empire.

It was also during this period that enmity developed between IRON and the Federation of Armed Nations. A number of minor flame-wars broke out in the CN forums, but these were eventually broken up through the efforts of the IRON State Department and several Councilors. The State Department was able to smooth over relations for the time being, but the relationship would never recover.

The Third Great War and a Return to Neutrality
After the disbandment of The Empire, the Third Great War broke out which once again saw a declaration of neutrality on the part of IRON. The decision was not an easy one, as a vocal minority of IRON members at the time felt that war on the NPO was a feasible and necessary option, and a smaller segment wished to militarily support the NPO.

IRON would stay out of the war, but that did not mean that individual IRON nations sought to stay out of the fight. Many such nations left IRON to fight for both sides of the conflict. However, it was at this time that the IRON Council instituted the Closed Drafting Period, during which nations who left IRON would never be permitted to return. The policy was an effort to prevent maverick IRON nations from turning the alliance into a mercenary corp.

Orange Tension and the Transitional Era
After GWIII, IRON entered a period of policy transition. However, this was also a period of high tension between IRON and other Orange Sphere alliances. This tension had two public manifestations. One such cause was the Maccers Incident, during which a long time IRON member known as Maccers the Great left the alliance under duress and in direct conflict with members of the IRON Council. As the situation evolved, several logs were released to the IRON Council revealing that confidential information was leaked.

The reaction from the IRON Council and membership was furious. Maccers had dispersed confidential information even after having signed and agreeing to not divulge classified information. This was considered a treasonous act by IRON’s classified information agreement and Maccers was placed on the IRON ZI List for his actions. Unfortunately, he had already applied to and was accepted into the ODN. IRON diplomats and Councilors notified the ODN leadership of the incident, but due process was required.

It is noteworthy and relevant to mention that the ODN at this time was a protectorate of GOONS as a result of being a part of Aegis. The ODN was demilitarized and made to pay reparations to GOONS. Hence, they were already in a weakened state, even under the protection of an Initiative alliance. However, IRON considered these factors in addition to their long-standing friendship with ODN and decided to permit due process for a time.

Maccers was given fair warning that the destruction of his nation was likely imminent. Hence, he began purchasing nuclear weapons as fast as he could in an effort to deter any possible attack. Even though IRON initially decided to respect ODN’s due process and trial system, IRON quickly realized the threat a nuclear-armed target would be and an attack on him was ordered soon thereafter. The attacks were made in conjunction with an infamous announcement on the CN, which resulted in ODN’s “surrender” several hours later.

This was somewhat of a diplomatic blunder on the part of IRON, with one of their closest and long-time friends perpetually surrendering to them. This would be the first and the last time in Planet Bob history that IRON had broken a treaty or agreement. However, a dialogue was soon opened and it was acknowledged that a new agreement was needed regarding the Orange Senate. Ultimately, IRON and ODN came out of the incident with a better understanding of one another and with a closer, more conversant relationship than in many months.

However, this was not the only instance of Orange Sphere tension. Around the same time as the Maccers Incident with the ODN, another incident occurred regarding the Orange Senate. Essentially, IRON was able to crowd TOP out of the third Senate seat, giving IRON two seats and ODN one seat on the Orange Senate. TOP did not react well to this and vehemently objected to the action. The result, however, was constructive and positive: IRON, ODN, and TOP all agreed to the Orange Senate Treaty, which in the words of Heft, was a way of “reaffirming [IRON’s] dedication and commitment to the Orange Team, our Orange neighbors, and general diplomatic good will and good faith.” The Orange Senate Treaty has stood to this day and is still utilized as the method of selecting the Orange Team Senate.

The End of the Forging Era and Foreign Policy Transitions
It was after the signing of the Orange Senate Treaty that IRON began to transition from the Forging Era, when IRON was initially cast, to the Transitional Era. Many changes were occurring throughout IRON, most notably on the IRON Council. Long-time President and Founder Sister Midnight left the Council after over 13 months of service. Sister Midnight then held the Planet Bob record for longest continually serving chief executive. Additionally, long-time Councilor and Founder Glyndwr also stepped down after 13 months of service. In February, Bill N Ted was appointed to the IRON Council and, two months later, was appointed as the IRON Minister of Defense, ushering in a new era of military discipline and organization within IRON.

Before leaving, Sister Midnight sought to change IRON’s foreign policy direction. She urged the Council to lift a long-standing ban on Mutual Defense Pacts or MDPs. Her reasons were made clear: IRON, while resilient and strong, could not stand alone in the fast-changing world of Planet Bob. However, it would be some time before IRON would actually completely lift the MDP ban. By all accounts, Furytear is given a significant degree of credit for his efforts in “securing contacts, leads, friends, and allies.”

However, Furytear was able to secure an Optional Defense Pact, or ODP, with ONOS, a GUARD nation, but this treaty was extremely short-lived. Amid planet-wide criticism that the ODP looked remarkably like an MDP, ONOS rebuked the treaty as “the wrong draft,” even after Furytear and his corresponding agent in ONOS spent several hours defending the document. To make matters worse, ONOS was soon thereafter caught executing illicit spy actions against the NPO which had been going on for several months on end. Once alerted of this fact, IRON dropped the treaty with ONOS.

The Transitional Era and Orange Unity
The Transitional Era began with a turbulent start, but IRON was internally stabilizing. One such facet of this stabilization was the establishment of the IRON Academy. The Academy churned out a new generation of IRON membership and helped streamline military operations. Additionally, many dissenters departed IRON for various reasons, creating a more internally stable environment.

After the ONOS Incident, the Citrus Accords, better known as the Orange Unity Treaty, were signed during this same month. IRON was a late-comer to the OUT fold, which may be attributed to the recent Orange Team tension. However, IRON’s desire to show its commitment to the Orange Sphere coupled with a need to maintain good diplomatic relations with Orange neighbors helped railroad the treaty’s approval on the IRON Council. While this was not necessarily a defense pact, it still left IRON far better off than it was the month previous in terms of foreign relations.

It was also during this time that the fabric of The Initiative began to be cast in doubt. The NPO’s leadership position was gradually being eroded by both FAN and GOONS, through Yellow Number 5 and Shark Week respectively. These rumblings deeply troubled both the IRON Council and the general membership. To IRON, an NPO-led Initiative was more secure than a FAN or GOONS-led bloc, which would be ambivalent at best and hostile at worst.

IRON swiftly began drawing up contingency plans and began gathering as much information as possible regarding the fracturing of the World Unity Treaty. Then a foreign policy coup occurred: Furytear was able to hammer out an MADP with the MCXA, a close ally of the Initiative. Upon its signing, much of the world expressed shock at IRON seemingly giving up its long-held independence. However, IRON saw this MADP as a way of retaining its independence rather than being subjugated by large-bloc alliances.

The Mutual Aggression and Defense Pact with the MCXA was the true entry of IRON onto the world stage as a real power to contend with. However, the resolve of IRON to commit to this new treaty would soon be tested when FAN became far too aggressive with GOONS and the NPO. FAN was ejected from The Initiative and the FAN-WUT War had begun. On ten minutes notice, IRON announced it would respect its treaty commitments to the MCXA and declare war on FAN. Amazingly, that treaty was signed the same day and had yet to have been announced to the world.

The FAN-WUT War and the Unjust War
However, IRON had never been involved in any serious engagements before the FAN-WUT War. The war, however, helped educate the alliance on military matters. With help from their newfound Initiative allies, IRON was instructed on many military tactics, including staggering, coordination, and target assignment. What IRON lacked in experience, it made up for in the sheer number of allies they were fighting with. Diplomatically, IRON was able to demonstrate that it was a respectable alliance which respects its treaty commitments, which in some accounts is considered the rationale for their quick declaration of war against FAN.

The month after the war began, DarkMistress was appointed to the IRON Council. While she was relatively inexperienced, she would soon prove to be an integral part of IRON’s foreign policy apparatus. She was appointed to be Deputy Secretary of State behind Shan Revan, who took over the reigns of Secretary of State after Furytear left to join the MCXA. Soon after Shan Revan and DarkMistress established themselves within the IRON State Department, they acquired an MADP with the NpO and reaffirmed MADPs with NoV and TOP. Finally, the NPO MADP was drafted, edited, and signed capping off a “treaty blitz” the likes of which IRON had never before seen.

The IRON State Department would soon be extremely busy, as the world had to contend with several major crises. It started with the Pacifican Succession Crisis, which resolved itself peacefully but showed the NpO moving away from the Initiative. Soon thereafter was Modgate, during which several notable alliance leaders were banned and deleted for reasons unknown. This created many a diplomatic foray, especially in a case between the NPO and GOONS. While many alliances were affected by Modgate, IRON made it out unscathed.

It was at around this time that IRON had committed itself to the side of the NPO and began growing closer to the GGA in the fracturing Initiative, while simultaneously the Unjust Path bloc was formed and decreed. However, war was not on the minds of the UJP with regard to IRON, and many UJP alliances, including \m/, attempted to sign MDPs and various other treaties with the IRON State Department. Not only did these requests inundate the IRON State Department, most of them had to be carefully dealt, since most of them were to be rejected on the grounds of their agreements with MCXA and the NPO.

The opening of communications with the GGA and the continued improvement of relations with the NPO could be viewed as a precursor to the One Vision bloc, which still stands today. However, at the time, the NpO and the GGA had withdrawn from the Initiative and the WUT as a result of Modgate and the change of leadership. Soon thereafter, a nation within the GOONS protectorate of BAPS attacked and raided technology from a GGA nation. The GGA swiftly retaliated and, in response, GOONS counter-attacked. However, this spark would be temporarily stifled, as the GGA and GOONS attempted to settle the issue through diplomatic channels.

Unfortunately, soon thereafter, a protectorate of the NpO, BOTS, was attacked by Gen[m]ay, which was a WUT signatory and a member of the UJP bloc. The NpO swiftly declared war on Gen[m]ay and counterattacked while the GGA followed suit and declared war upon GOONS. Several MDPs were activated during this time, including the MDOAP between IRON and the GGA. IRON declared war on GOONS soon thereafter and the UJP War had begun.

IRON was able to manage GOONS handily, considering that TOOL and Golden Sabres also attacked out of respect for their MDPs with GOONS. Even more remarkably, the OUT was maintained, with the ODN and other alliances offering aid and combat assistance. After an extended period of fighting, IRON came out the victor over the GOONS. IRON had entered the Modern Era.

The Modern Era
IRON went from a 60 member alliance based on a gaming forum to an alliance of 660 members in less than two years. In that time, IRON went through several transformations, moving from neutrality to being a supporting alliance until finally becoming the world leader that many in IRON aspired for the alliance to become. IRON was truly “independent” now more than ever before.

In the aftermath of the UJW and the FAN-WUT War, IRON and several other alliances continued to fight a campaign of occupation against GOONS, FAN, and \m/. It was also during the post-war period that IRON, the NPO, the NpO, and the GGA signed an agreement which would form the One Vision bloc. The Continuum was also in the works in the weeks after the end of the UJW. It became apparent that IRON had finally become the respected alliance it had always aspired to be.

IRON continues to participate in an active occupation of both FAN and GOONS, as well as in three treaty organizations: One Vision, The Continuum, and the Orange Unity Treaty.