Name of Nation: The Totalist State
Banner/Flag:Credits go to RvBomallyType of Government: Totalitarian Single-Party State.
Summary:The Totalist doctrine preaches the total submission of the individual towards the aggrandizement of the State and Party. Only through total compliance to the "Grand Plan" of the Party the State will be able to triumph against its myriad enemies. With the end of the Fourth Great Hydarnian War and the destruction of the People's Republic of Cymelia and the Grand Federation of New Albion, the Party is now desperately looking for a new enemy to demonize. In the same vein, the Party has also started to slightly modify its ideological basis to absorb some ideological concepts from both Albion and Cymelia. That way, making it easier to absorb and assimilate the populations of the other two authoritarian regimes.
More recently, as in a few centuries ago, the radical wing of the Party has come up with the concept of Obliteration of the Self. Arguing that it's the individual that causes conflicts and problems with his greed and ambition, the theorists propose a sweeping campaign to eliminate this obstacle. Through education, cultural control or brute force. To further advance the idea, the Anti-Individualist faction has also managed to force a series of localized reforms, creating several "testing grounds" for their social control projects in scattered planets across the State.
The Totalist government is divided into directorates. Each one is in charge of an aspect of the administration and is usually divided into smaller sub-directorates for more specialized areas. Each director is part of the Board of directors, who is officially tasked with helping the Supreme Director in running the State. Since the real Supreme Director died centuries ago, the directors themselves run the show. With the most influential of them being the one to call the shots.
Leader(s): Director Aleksandr Dollabela-Rybaslky. Generalissimo of the State and head of the Directorate of Peace.
Persons of Importance:-Director Khoorli Aprayat, Head of the Directorate of Production.
-Director Leandra Fianecci, Head of the Directorate of Truth.
-Director Sapramat Tanzin, Head of the Directorate of Safety.
There are other directors but their power and influence are limited compared to the top players
Species(s) and Demographics:The bulk of the Totalist population is human, 90% to be exact. And while the official Party line has nothing outright against Xenos, they are still among the most used boogeymen by the State propaganda machine. Because of this, the general attitude towards Xenos is one of distrust and subdued animosity. Said animosity can be wiped into a frenzied hate at a moment's notice by propaganda.
With that said, the final victory against the immediate enemies of the Party has given the State a considerable increase in its human population. Unfortunately, these elements of society have been raised and indoctrinated outside the ideals of Totalism. And while the Party has adopted some trappings of Salvationist Communism and Darwinist Autarky to its ideological framework and co-opted considerable sectors of its former enemies' state apparatus, it still hasn't been enough for them to be deemed fully integrated. And so, in the new territories, even years after the end of the war, the extermination camps and death squads are still working around the clock to eliminate all undesirable elements of society.
Besides humanity, a host of minor Xeno species live within Totalist territory. Most of these species confined to a single system or even continent. Ruled by puppet leaders advised by Totalist officers and kept purposefully primitive relative to the State. In times of war these Xenos fight side by side with the Totalist army, as cannon fodder.
Religion Description and Demographics:Official Party doctrine dictates that religion is a parasite that must be purged for the success of the Grand Plan. In practice however the situation is different. Major religions, specially those originating in foreign states, are relentlessly purged by the Directorate of Security. But several faiths and philosophies deemed "safe" by the Party. And so are mostly ignored by the Cultural Commissars. But like with everything else within the State, the smallest slip or wrong word can doom an entire community to ignominious death in the basement of a slaughterhouse.
Paramount among the approved faiths is the Pain Vehicle. An offshoot of Buddhism born in the bloody and chaotic days of the Imperial collapse, the Pain philosophy (as it is more commonly known) was created by the then newly-installed Buddhist theocracy of Gyala. Unable to alleviate the suffering around them, the monks instead accepted the ultimate truth that the Universe wants people to suffer. And if that's the case then suffering must be what brings enlightenment, specially if one accepts such suffering without resistance. Likewise, those who inflict suffering are seen in a very positive light since they help others achieve enlightenment faster at the cost of delaying their own escape from the cycle of death and rebirth.
In the Gyalan Protectorate, which remains a theocracy to this day albeit a puppet of the Totalists, monks and nuns practice extreme forms of sadomasochism. Torturing themselves, their novices, their fellow clergy and the helpless local population, who has been raised to believe that this torture is actually a glorious reward.
The Pain Vehicle also does not believes that living beings have individual souls. Preaching instead that all life is merely a rogue vessel for the parts of a single soul of the same cosmic spirit. This has earned them some points with the radical Totalists as both groups despise the concept of individuality and self.
In the Totalist State proper, the Pain philosophy lacks its elaborate temple-fortress and highly organized clergy, the Party must maintain appearances after all. But this hasn't stopped the ideology from finding some fertile ground among the population. Specially those in the armed forces and security apparatus.
Of course, one can't talk about religion in the Totalist State without mentioning the Party itself and its official doctrine. Which by this point has become akin to a religion itself. Specially in its blind veneration to the Supreme Director, the supposed founder of the Totalist State and the one to create the "Grand Plan", a series of complex, confusing and often times contradictory ideals. Ignored by the Party leadership unless its convenient for them or completely misunderstood or even unknown to the wider population. In general the Grand Plan is merely used as a propaganda slogan these days.
Culture:
Totalist culture is in general a very utilitarian one. Centuries of Party control and the relentless work of the Cultural Commissars have created a society molded by the Totalist ideals of complete submission to the Party, where one's worth is judged solely by how much he or she is able to contribute to the State. Or at least in theory, in general a member of the upper echelons of the party has access to much more resources and amenities than a mere worker.
The State is present in all aspects of life within Totalist space, either through constant propaganda or surveillance. Privacy is considered an obstacle to most and the Directorate of Safety maintains a colossal network of informants, agents and machinery to spy upon its own citizenry. To ensure their compliance. Such is their control that the black market itself is merely another facet of the Directorate of Safety, ensuring that the truly subversive material stays out of reach of the masses and that any potentially dangerous elements are (even more) closely watched by the security apparatus. On the same vein, the Directorate also maintains several small resistance groups led by double agents, to give the Party a boogeyman when needed and catch any would be rebels.
Overall, Totalist society is rather conservative. Clothing consists of drab and dull mass produced pieces. Even military and Party uniforms remain somber and subdued no matter how high in the hierarchy, though they tend to be of much higher quality than the usual citizen jumpsuit. Likewise, hair is usually kept short by both men and women.
Architecture is also very utilitarian, built to be sturdy and to last without care for aesthetics or appearance. The only exception are government buildings and monuments. Those are also supposed to impress and cow the masses into submission.
Food is mostly of the processed and canned variety. Other kinds of meal are available but they cost so many ration cards that only the Upper Party can afford them consistently.
Healthcare is focused on keeping the citizens productive and breeding. And its not uncommon for workers and soldiers to receive some genetic or cybernetic modification to make them more useful. Regardless of their consent.
"Aberrant" behaviour isn't tolerated by the State, with aberrant being anything that doesn't conforms to the official Party line or isn't passively tolerated. Homosexuals, members of persecuted religions, criminals, political dissidents or merely the losing side of political struggles may, if lucky, end up in mental asylums and reeducation camps. Though chances are one probably ends up in a work or extermination camp.
There are several planets and systems within Totalist space that are under control of the radical faction of the Party. Officially designated as "social experimentation planets", these worlds are playgrounds for the radicals. Places where their ideals are implemented and perfected. Places where the Obliteration of Self, destruction of family structure and divisions among "caste stereotypes" are in full swing. For them, this is their chance to show the undeniable superiority of their ideas. The rest of the Party is just glad that they aren't as annoying as before.
History:
Military:
The Totalist armed forces, under overall control of the Directorate of Peace has three major subdivisions: the Totalist Army, the Totalist Navy and the Safety Force. The latter is the result of decades of intrigue and backroom conflicts between the Directorate of Peace and the Directorate of Security.
-The Totalist Army:
Originally a horde of screaming highly untrained conscripts, hundreds of minor and major conflicts have transformed the Totalist Army into an actual army instead of an angry mob. Nevertheless,