New Batavia Colony (Nouvelle Colonie De Batavia) is the capital of the Republic of Displaced Calvinists.
City Flag of New Batavia Colony
History[]
During World War I (1914-1918), the West African colony of German Togoland was seized by combined French and British military forces. Administration of the captured territory was divided between France and Britain. In 1922, persecuted French Protestant Christians (known as Huguenots) and displaced Scottish Covenanter Presbyterians were allowed to settle in British Togoland as part of a League of Nations Mandate. The experimental plantation was designed to provide a place of refuge for persecuted Calvinist Christians, and was given the name of New Batavia Colony. From 1922 to 1956, the colony was a joint venture of the French and British governments (French administered, but in British territory). By 1956, the colony had grown to such prominence that France granted to New Batavia Colony the governance of all of French West Africa. In 1960, control of the colonial territory of French Equatorial Africa was also handed over to the Calvinist settlers. The combined colonies were managed as an autonomous Overseas Territory of France until New Batavia Colony gained its full independence in 2006, becoming the capital of a new nation, Displaced Calvinists.
The town was founded in 1922 as a coffee plantation and cattle ranch in the Volta Region between Cote Ivorie and Togoland in West Africa by members of the French branch of the Reformed Church. Several families of French Protestants relocated to New Batavia after their predominantly Roman Catholic homeland passed a series of Anti-Huguenot laws, forcing them into exile. With a charter from the French Republic, the exiled Protestants were allowed to build New Batavia as a town of refuge for Calvinists seeking to escape persecution in Europe. Relations between New Batavia and the French government became increasingly strained during the 1990's. By 2004, the colony realized that it had been left to fend for itself, eventually leading the New Batavia's leadership to declare independence. In October of 2006, New Batavia Colony announced itself as the capital of the newly formed Republic of Displaced Calvinists. Sheldomar Bolak was elected as the colony's first Governor-General.
Downtown New Batavia Colony
Government[]
History
From the plantation's founding up until December 9th, 2006, the colonial Governor-General served as both the Republic's head of state as well as the city's mayor. The internal affairs of the town were governed by a Classis, or council, made up of six civic members and three Protestant clergymen. The Classis served as both the national parliament and as New Batavia's city council. Plans to separate the office of the Republic's head of state from the office of Mayor, and to separate the national Classis from the Batavian city council, were slated for the next election cycle. However, the Republic of Displaced Calvinists grew much quicker than anticipated, and this arrangement was deemed unsatisfactory by leading citizens of the nation's outlying regions. Finally, a rebellion in the Huguesville cattle districts forced the government to take quicker action, resulting in the December Reorganization. The Governor-General and the National Classis resigned from their posts as leaders of the capital's city government. A new body, the Parliamentary Synod, took over the legislative affairs of the national government, while the Classis continues governing the capital city's affairs. A Royal Magistrate serves as the moderator of the City Classis, and is an office separate from the mayor.
In February 2007, the colonial Governor-General was elected as the nation's first King as the Parliamentary Synod voted to adopt a constitutional Monarchy for the national government. The country was then declared to be a "Royal Republic." The Governor-General's mansion and the Classis Hall were transfered into the hands of the city government, and a new Palace and a Parliamentary Synod building were built.
By the summer of 2007, the National Royal government completed its separation from the Batavian Colonial City government and the transfer of power has been a success.
City and District Government
Today, New Batavia Colony's city government consists of the mayor, Benoît du Lyons, and the Colonial-City Classis Council. Not only do they manage the affairs of the city, but together with the St Giles Village Session Council, they oversee the affairs of the Batavia Colony Rural District under the direction of the current District Governor-General Timothée Pleurnichard.
Royal National Government
New Batavia Colony is still the seat of the national government, under the Royal Covenant Party. Former Colonial Governor-General Sheldomar Bolak reigns as King Sheldomar I, King of the Huguenots. The Parliamentary Synod meets in the Synodical Capitol building down the street from the Royal Palace, and the Supreme Court of the land, the Consistitory, holds court in the Royal Justice Hall.
The headquarters for several national agencies, such as La Gendarmerie Nationale, the Protestant Pension Bureau social security system administration, and the DSR: Direction de la Securite et du Renseignement (the Directorate of Security and Intelligence), are all located in New Batavia Colony.
The Great Monument to the national Royalist government, l'Arc du Roi Sheldomar, is located in the heart of the city's downtown administration district. L'Arc du Roi Sheldomar is considered a National Wonder, and stands as a testimony to the leadership of King Sheldomar as the founder of the Royal Republic. Political opponents such as FIC's Pierre Bon-Marche and Revolutionary Hugo Vaches have decried the monument as a symbol of their disenfranchisement. Other political leaders such as Capitalisme Maintenant! chairman Roland LeBlanc have hailed it as a symbol of domestic peace and stability.
Economy, Media, and Services[]
New Batavia Colony has quickly grown as a commercial trading center, exporting cattle and Volta River water in exchange for other valuable commodities. Huguenot National Bank's corporate headquarters is the center of a modest but blossoming financial district. A modest Science Center has just recently shut down its small experimental nuclear reactor, and is shifting its focus on other research projects while a clean-up of spent atomic fuel is nearing completion. A new school has recently opened, along with a newly founded University, the University of the Huguenots, near the southern outskirts of the city.
It's formerly thriving Fast Food industry is a mere shell of its former self, with the Knox's Junior Hamburger restaurants, Beza Pizza, and Ferrel's Geneva Fried Chicken chains little more than a fond memory. Fast Food has recently been replaced by the manufacturing of Automobiles due to a recent change in the national trade agreements. The Bezamobile Roadster is quickly becoming the most popular domestic vehicle in West Africa.
Main Sanctuary of Le Grand Temple de la Réforme
New Batavia Colony's most striking attraction is the National Wonder, Le Grand Temple de la Réforme (the Great Church of the Protestant Reformation). It is considered one of the world's Great Temples, and serves to establish and propagate the state religions of the Reformed Church and Presbyterianism.
New Batavia is well-known for its Bible printing house, New Batavia Press, producing Bibles, psalter-hymnals, and other written materials promoting the Protestant Christian faith. Media includes the flagship station of the government's AM radio network (Radio RCD-1), as well as a daily national newspaper, The New Batavian Herald. Businessman Roland LeBlanc has just begun private commercial FM radio broadcasts over his Radio RCD-3 FM network. Television broadcasting has been banned, but the use of televisions for watching videos has sparked an small domestic film-making industry, focusing mostly on religious education materials and children's programs under the direction of the newly founded Royal Republican Film and Video Ministry. Cultural entertainment centers mostly around John Calvin Memorial Stadium, which attracts sporting and civic events from around the region. The most popular events hosted include the competition croquet championship games, the Cattlemen's Association rodeo circuit, and the National Preaching Competitions.
St Giles Presbyterian Hospital
An airstrip in the nearby suburb of St. Giles Village serves as New Batavia's international airport. The commercial bus station in downtown New Batavia, along with the nearby train depot, form the hub of the Republic's transportation system.
The National Hospital, St Giles Presbyterian Hospital, is located in the suburbs between St Giles Village and New Batavia Colony.
People[]
The majority of the citizens of New Batavia Colony are French immigrants. The French populace is primarily made up of families of Huguenot (French Protestant) background who moved to escape religious persecution. There are also significant minority populations of Dutch, Scottish, Jewish, Korean, and Ewe ethnic groups. More than three-fourths of the population are members of the French Reformed Church.
Well-known citizens of New Batavia Colony and its surrounding Batavia Colony District include,
- Sovereign of the State and King of the Huguenots, Sheldomar Bolak
- Commanding Officer of La Gendarmerie Nationale, Commandant-Major Yves Purdue
- Clergyman and Stated Clerk of the Judicial Consistory Pierre-Paul LeFevre
- Director of the DSR intelligence agency, Commandant Jacques-Pierre Mont-Fontainebleau
- Mayor Benoît du Lyons
- District Governor-General Timothée Pleurnichard
- Radio personality Pierre Maynard
- FIC politician Pierre Bon Marche
- Publisher Nicolas Coleporter
- Athlete Philippe d'Arlys
- French Reformed clergyman and author Louis d'Auguste