Published on April 16, 2022 at 17:28
Ivonia is an island nation located in the southern Indian Ocean. Originally uninhabited, the island was initially colonized by the Dutch, with the first settlements in the early 16th century. During the First Anglo-Dutch War, the island came under attack by British forces and was ceded to the British in the subsequent Treaty of Westminster. Ivonia would remain under direct British rule until independence some two centuries later.
Owing to its distant location far from other British territories, Ivonia had its own Governor-General appointed by the Crown. The Governor-General's mansion was located in Whitaker, the largest settlement. The Ivonian House of Assembly was created in 1673, with membership initially limited exclusively to the wealthy merchant class in Whitaker and other major settlements. Under British rule, the economy of Ivonia developed steadily, with most residents employed in farming, mining and the island's port.
The population of Ivonia was initially small, but grew steadily with time, with several large waves of migration coinciding with economic and military strife in Europe. By the early 19th century, Ivonia's population exceeded one million people. The early 19th century also saw the first major administrative organization of Ivonia, with the Provinces of Ivonia Act, 1801 passed by the Ivonian Assembly. This act saw the creation of the five provinces of Ivonia and their respective provincial assemblies.
Read more about Ivonia's provinces
By the mid-1850s, the idea of self-governance had taken hold in the minds of the political class in Ivonia. Spurred on by similar discussion abroad, particularly in Canada, debate of such proposals took various forms throughout the 1850s and 1860s. Real progress towards self-governance was made after Canadian Confederation in 1867, which served as a model for the still developing Ivonian Dominionship Movement. The final discussions towards dominion were completed in 1869, when Arthur Cartwright, a leading figure in the Ivonian Assembly, took charge of the movement and steered debate through the Assembly. The Dominion of Ivonia Act, 1869 was passed in late November 1869 by the Assembly, and Cartwright took the Act with him as he led the Ivonian delegation to London.
The British Parliament took up these articles soon after his arrival, and the British Dominion of Ivonia Act, 1870 received royal assent on March 3, 1870, with the date of the declaration of the Dominion set for June 1, 1870.
After Dominion itself was declared, the Ivonian Assembly took on the debate of what the structure and form of government for the Dominion of Ivonia would be. Although it was clear that Ivonia remained politically linked to Great Britain, and with it the Westminster form of government, the nature of voting rights and voting systems were placed up for debate. After months of heated debate, both in the Assembly as well as in town halls across the nation, the Government of Ivonia Act, 1870 was passed. This Act enfranchised all adult men and women above the age of 21, making Ivonia one of the earliest nations to enact universal suffrage. The Ivonian Assembly was reorganized with 15 roughly equally-sized constituencies, elected first-past-the-post by voters with compulsory voting.
Having passed the requisite legislation to lay the groundwork for the nascent nation, the Ivonian Assembly voted to dissolve itself and head to elections. Arthur Cartwright, himself a wealthy urban merchant, founded the Dominion Party to take advantage of the successful creation of the new nation. The Country Party was founded in opposition, with its first leader being Joseph Barrett, a wealthy landowner from Westmoreland. The scene was thus set for the 1871 General Election, to be held over a period of two weeks in January 1871.