DECREE OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY OF THE REPUBLIC OF GUNTRELAND Concerning the Proclamation of the State of Utmost War Of the 15th day of Hirandial, Year XX of the Republic
IT IS HEREBY PROCLAIMED, upon the entire territory of the Republic of Guntreland, the State of Utmost War, in consequence of the newly threatened offensive aggression of tyrannical armies against the Liberty and Constitutional Order of the Republic, an aggression which imperils the very existence of the State.
The whole body of Citizens of the Republic of Guntreland places all its physical and moral powers in a condition of total and exclusive devotion to the defence of the Country against Tyrants. Into this same condition, and into the exclusive service of this same sacred aim, are placed all property, all means and objects, all animals, and all Nature upon the soil of the Republic.
All male Citizens between the ages of fifteen and forty years, not otherwise engaged in duties of special importance to the war effort, are hereby conscripted into the Armies of the Republic. All male Citizens above the age of forty, not otherwise so engaged, shall be employed in the fabrication of arms, the production of gas, the construction and filling of balloons, the transport of artillery, munitions, provisions, and all necessities of war. All female Citizens, not otherwise engaged in duties of special importance, shall sew balloons, uniforms, and garments for the Army; shall wash earth for the extraction of saltpetre; shall prepare food and tents; and shall serve as nurses to the wounded. All Citizens who are Vampires, of both sexes, not otherwise engaged, shall labour day and night in the excavation of earth in cellars where saltpetre is presumed to be found. All Citizens who are Werewolves, of both sexes, not otherwise engaged, shall patrol towns and villages in defence of the Republican Law; shall stand armed on guard within the Army and upon the barricades. All Republican Children shall serve as couriers, assist in the transport of excavated earth, and perform such other useful duties as befit their age.
Republican Writers—Propagators of Virtue—shall have but one duty: to consecrate their talents to the service of the Homeland. Republican Theatres and Musical Assemblies shall continue their labours, presenting dramas and oratorios that celebrate the sacred love of Country and preach hatred toward Tyrants.
Every quart and municipal committee is empowered to draw up registers of its population and to assign to each Citizen his or her duty within the State of Utmost War, in conformity with the spirit of the present Decree.
Military units shall be composed of both newly mobilized Citizens and those already in active service prior to this Decree; and within such units, the latter shall receive non-commissioned ranks and command the newly mobilized. The Committee of Public Command is charged with the organization of the armies.
The whole People must be armed. Republican Conscience commands the defence of Sovereignty and Liberty. No objection to the bearing or use of arms shall be admitted.
Public functionaries shall remain at their posts.
The National Assembly, the Committee of Public Command, the Commanders of Departments, Regional Commanders, District, Municipal and Quart Committees, and all persons duly authorized by them, are empowered to carry out unlimited requisitions wherever necessary for the defence of the Republic, and to issue binding instructions to all proprietors concerning the use of their property, so that it may best serve the public safety. Records shall be kept of all such requisitions and instructions, in order that, after the cessation of general danger, property may be restored and just compensation rendered for losses exceeding the common sacrifices borne by the Nation.
In all towns and villages, national buildings shall be converted into barracks, and arms shall be forged in all public places. District Committees, under binding instructions from the Committee of Public Command and the Regional Commanders, are charged without delay to organize the extraordinary production of arms and to establish factories, workshops, and all necessary infrastructure.
Animals likewise owe their service to the defence of the Country. All draft horses, save those indispensable to agriculture, shall be requisitioned for the artillery and transport; riding horses for the cavalry; hunting dogs for the assistance of the Constitutional Guard in the struggle against the internal enemies of the Republic.
All superstitious books shall be torn apart, and their pages converted into cartridges.
The State of Utmost War shall endure until the last enemy soldier is driven from the soil of Guntreland, and until the entire territory of the Republic is restored under the authority of institutions established by the Constitution.
Henceforth, all negligence, weakness, delay, and error in the execution of any duty within the Republic shall be deemed crimes.
On the Decadi, the twentieth day of Hirandial of the present year, the entire Citizenry of the Republic of Guntreland shall swear a solemn oath to defend unto death the Constitution of the Republic. All who refuse this oath shall, by that very act, be placed outside the Law as traitors and enemies of the Republic.
IN THE NAME OF THE REPUBLIC, free, natural, and founded upon Virtue, proclaimed by the President of the National Assembly, by decision of the National Assembly.
Done at Eustata, on the Fifteenth day of Hirandial, Year Twenty of the Republic.
Honour the Constitution, Citizens!
The President of the National Assembly, Bipler
