Saddlerock Union
| Saddlerock Union | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Overview | |
| Capital and largest city | Larimer |
| Government type | Federal presidential constitutional republic |
| President (head of state and government) | Woody Hughes |
| Vice President (asst. head of government) | Harrison Clarke |
| Demographics | |
| Demonym(s) | Saddlerockian(s) |
The Saddlerock Union is a federal presidential republic bordered by the Esmarian Sea to the north and the Empire of Itzmilco to the south. Composed of two states, the Saddlerock Union is the least-populated member state of the Emerald Alliance, with a population of only about 2.5 million people. Situated on much of the Esmarian Sea's southern shore, the Saddlerock Union is noted for its extremely low population and great wildernesses, a byproduct of the formation of the Great Dust Bowl, a vast expanse of eroded infertile soil and desert that covers most of the Union. Possessing an economy primarily centered on agriculture and resource extraction, technological advancements have allowed for only a small workforce to be necessary to till Saddlerock's fields and mines, the lack of other jobs deterring immigration.
History
Though loss of life was relatively little in the modern-day Saddlerock Union during the Twilight War, the existence of significant military infrastructure such as the nuclear missile silos of the Esmarian 382nd Strategic Missile Wing made it a target during the nuclear exchange towards the end of the war. Entire swathes of land were left irradiated, the destruction of key infrastructure leading to a swift collapse of agrotech infrastructure in Saddlerock.
Before the conflict had even been formally concluded, the Itzmilcan invasion of southwest Esmaria in 970 S.C. resulted in the brief occupation of the southwest of Saddlerock, including the state capital of Larimer. In tandem with the rapid onset of guerilla warfare against the federal government across southern Esmaria, many militias were formed in the Saddlerock Union, primarily operating in the southwest and west. Difficulties in rooting out militia forces, as well as widespread local sympathies towards such insurgents led the federal government to resort to chemical warfare, causing further damage to agricultural output. This would bring on a famine that spurred mass flight out of the state, and firmly tipped the opinions of those who remained in favor of joining the Sovereign States Accord when it was formed in 973 S.C.
Though the formation of the Emerald Alliance would largely end the intranicene violence waged throughout the newly proclaimed Saddlerock Union, it essentially failed to recover from the effects of the civil disorder. The manmade “Great Dust Bowl” would actually grow in size in the years afterwards, as desperate subsistence farmers chose to forsake the sustainability of their farms to feed themselves and, ultimately, leave for greener pastures elsewhere. It would eventually grow to cover virtually all of the Saddlerock Union's former agricultural land and expand into the north of the Republic of Langdonia, nearly all of the remaining population living in seaside cities and towns along the Esmarian Sea. Depopulation would virtually hollow out the state as various early land reclamation projects failed, forcing a near-complete retooling of the Union's economy from one centered around agriculture to one centered around resource extraction. The Saddlerock Union would only begin to develop a notable agricultural sector again with the commencement of the Saddlerock Plains Reclamation Initiative in 0083 R.C., which succeeded where earlier projects of a smaller scale had failed. Into modern times, its economy would continue to grow, but at a modest rate lagging behind almost all of its peers.
Saddlerock would also become notable as a political stronghold of the LeBlancites, due to its poverty, with both senators, the president, and a supermajority of the Union's legislature all being Renewalists.