Mississippi (World War III)

The Republic of Mississippi is a country located in North America. It borders Alabama to the west, United States to the north and west, as well as Arkansas. It conists of the one of the Dixie countries.

Mississippi became a U.S. state in 1861, but after the Confederates lost the Civil War, was re-admitted into the Union in 1870. For more than a century, Mississippi would become a U.S. state, and would represent one of the strongest bastions of conservatism in the United States. Beginning in the 2020s, anti-United States and pro-seperatist sentiments boiled in Mississippi.

History
When the Mexican invasion of the United States began, most of the U.S. forces effecient for homeland defense had been deployed into the South China Sea. Many of the state governments of the south, specifically that of Mississippi, Georgia and Alabama accused the U.S. government of being incapable and incompetent, and began to take matters into their own hands, forming independant paramilitary groups. The state governments of Mississippi, Georgia and Alabama nullified all federal gun laws in their statea and gave citizens access to fully-automatic and military-grade weapons.

As a result, president Donald Trump promised that three States independance once an American victory had been sealed over the Mexican invaders. Trump allowed the state governments of Mississippi, Georgia and Alabama to set up their own defenses.

In 2022, the American victory was sealed, Trump enacted the Bible Belt Act, beginning a one-year transition for Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia to become trust-territories of the United States. On July 4, 2023, the American flag was finally lowered and taken down from the capitols of the three secessionist States.

Following the successful secession, many African-Americans emigrated out of Mississippi en masse to the neighboring Tennessee up north, which had remained an American state. Entire communities of African Americans were depopulated. The new Mississippi government re-settled their communities with impoverished White Mississippians and military veterans.

Culture
Mississippian culture has four main bases: Christianity, American culture, Anglo-Celtic and African-American. St. Patrick's day is a national holiday in Mississippi, as it is in Ireland. It shares the same amount of importance as Christmas and Easter. Unlike the mainstream American observation of the holiday, while alcohol is still considered a specialty of the holiday, Mississippian celebration is more close to the traditional Irish observation, marked by church attendance and feasting on corned beef dishes, along with traditional Southern dishes.

Unlike mainstream views of Mississippi being a dull nation void of any culture, Mississippian culture is known to be rather vibrant, and Mississippians, as well as Southerners are generally festive people that embrace traditional festivities of their culture. Step-dancing and line-dancing are some of the biggest activities in Mississippi, as well as theatrical arts, a tradition inherited from Mississippi and the United States' British forefathers.

Western Mississippi is home to African-American or in this case, "Afro-Mississippian" culture. In this region,  Kwanzaa is celebrated and observed. In addition, this region is known as the "Jazz and Blues Belt", since these two musical styles, originating from African-Americans and Afro-Mississippians, are the predominant styles of music (see below).

Mississippi is also known for five types of music: country, folk, Southern rock, gospel and blues music, all which have historical and cultural ties to the South. The country is known as a "musical state", and while modern-day music that caters to younger generations is played in Mississippi, it is not traditionally embraced in the country.

Folk tales and storytelling, in particular - ghost stories, is also a popular part of Mississippian culture, especially for the rural communities and small towns. Mississippi, as well as the South in general, is popular for its unique Halloween celebration (celebrated as All Hallows' Eve), in that rather than trick or treating, families get together to tell ghost stories, legends and myths while eating sweet foods, mostly baked sweet foods. It is a popular festivity during Halloween for people not go outside their homes once nightfall hits as opposed to the mainstream American practice of trick-or-treating far into the night. It is for this reason that on Halloween, rural Mississippians finish all of their chores and errands during the day. Most businesses also let their workers off for the day. Due to Halloween's mainstream association with witchcraft and Satanism, most Mississippians do not practice costume art, or decorations. Most Mississippians also do not refer to the holiday as Halloween, calling it by its traditional name All Hallows' Eve.

Religion
Christianity is Mississippi's official state religion and the overwhelming majority religion practiced in Mississippi, Southern Baptist in particular. However at the same time, religious freedom is considered a Constitutional right in the country at the civilian level. Southern Baptists constitute a good 64% of Mississippians, about another 12% are Black Baptists. The rest include Roman Catholic, Orthodox (Greek, Russian and Armenian), as well as other Protestant sections such as Methodist and Lutheran, as well as independant Evangelical churches, Filipino Baptist churches, Jehovah's Witnesses, Seventh-Day Adventists, Anglicams and Judaism. Despite the Constitution of Mississippi, which is based off of both the United States, Confederate and the 1868 Constitution gauranteeing Freedom of Religion, the Republic of Mississippi considers itself a Christian nation, and its government has actively banned and/or suppressed religions and movements it deems a threat to Mississippi's Christian-oriented culture.

Islam was immedietly banned after Trump granted Mississippi trust-territory status. In addition, other faiths such as Satanism, Wicca, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Shamanism are banned. Practices and activities often associated with those faiths, such as meditation and yoga, are often heavily regulated and restricted in the country. In addition, Black Baptists, Jehovah's Witnesses and to a lesser extent, Seventh-Day Adventists and Roman Catholics, are often victims of discrimination.

There have been attempts by hardline Baptists and Evangelicals to ban the Jehovah's Witnesses from the nation, even some of the more extreme ultraconservative ones have also a desire to ban Judaism from the country. Some very ultranationalistic groups also want to ban the Anglicans, seeing Mississippjan  Anglicans as traitors since the Anglican Church is often seen as the church of one of Mississippi's historical oppressors, the British Empire.

In November 12, 2117, the Mississippian government officially banned the Jehovah's Witnesses. It is at this point, where Jehovah's Witnesses in Mississippi had to leave the mainstream Jehovah's Witnesses and form their own offshoot, the The Witnesses of Mississippi. After careful observation of their religious practices, the Mississippian government approved of their existence, as the Witnesses of Mississippi have practices and beliefs that more coincide with that of Dixie Christian culture.

Christian and Biblical morals heavily influence public social policies, as well as the lifestyle of Mississippians, as well as other Southern nations such as Georgia and Alabama. Same-sex marriage, abortion, birth control and pornography are illegal.

On Christmas and Easter, public facilities, with the exception of emergency services, are closed.

Language
English, particularly Southern American English, is currently Mississippi's national language. Standard American English is the country's official language, used in businesses and education. English proficiency is a requirement in all facets of Mississippian society, politics, economy and infrastructure. Employers require all employees to speak English at all times in the public, whether it's a public or private business.

Bilingual businesses, with the exception of airport and border security, are heavily discouraged in the country, though not necessarily illegal.

Politics
The Republic of Mississippi considers itself a "Constitutional Republic" and a "Christian democracy", and bases its legislature off of the Confederate Constitution, the 1868 Mississippi Constitution and the Bible. It reflects heavy American influence. Like the United States and its other Southern neighbors, Mississippi's Head of State is the President, followed by the Vice President. It also contains a Secretary of State. Mississippians enjoy similar and near-identical rights as Americans and citizens of the other Dixie countries, such as the distinct Right to Bear Arms.

The Mississippi Democratic Party, the remnant of the Southern Republicans of the United States as all as the Dixiecrats, has been Mississippi's ruling party ever since its inception as an independent nation.

Another powerful political party is the neo-Confederate and unitarian Restorationist Party, that seeks to re-unite the Dixie countries under one banner, similar to the Confederacy.

Other political party is the Progressive Party of Mississippi, formed of the remnants of the American Democratic Party that was based in Mississippi. It espouses socially progressive values and left-wing policies such as same-sex marriage, strict gun laws, and the changjng of Mississippi's national flag to remove Confederate symbols.

The Black Mississippian Front, is a Black nationalist and pan-African party in Mississippi. It neither considers itself right-wing or left-wing, and mainly concerns with the well-being of African Mississippians. It has both conservative and progressive members.

Economy
Contrary to popular belief, Mississippi is actually a very wealthy nation with a high standard of living. Citizens of the republic enjoy a liberal economy, free-market capitalism, very low taxes and minimal government regulation of businesses. It is estimated that more than 65% of businesses in Mississippi are privatized, including most defense companies.

Mississippi is part of the cotton belt, an economic trait shared by the Dixie countries, cotton is one of the state's largest exports. Soybeans, rice and magnolia are three of Mississippi's top exports. These export cash crops are highly tied in with Mississippi's largely agrarian economy.

Magnolia is one of Mississippi's most treasured plants, as the country is considered "The Magnolia Nation". It is Mississippi's National Flower, and the magnolia tree is its National Tree.

Armed Forces
The Armed Forces of Mississippi consists of the Army, Air Force and Navy. It was carved out of the National Guard of Mississippi, once a branch of the United States Army. Those who had wished to stay in the newly-formed Republic of Mississippi became part of the armed forces, while those who chose to migrate went to the United States.

Mississippi's armed forces is relatively small, but efficient enough. The Mississippi Armed Forces utilized Erwin Rommel's "Small Unit Warfare", rather than building and amassing for large-scale battles. The "official" federal force consists of approximately 90,000 personnel.

However, the paramilitary is estimated to have around more than 5 million, and if considered military proper, would constitute the world's second-largest, second from the Arabian Confederation. This is, because not only is gun ownership a right, but in Mississippi, a militia man is considered "....an armed and able-bodied adult capable of combat". Since military-grade weapons are available to citizens, including tanks, the number for armed citizens can possibly be close to the population itself.