| Foundation: The Solar Alliance |
| Wednesday, 15 July 2009 21:25 |
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Our Foundation series continues, with an article going into detail on the formation and history of the Solar Alliance which guided humanity for nearly two thousand years until the Judgment War.
Solar Alliance: The Solar Alliance was the longest-lasting human government ever created. It was originally created in the mid-22nd century, to replace the aging United Coalition of Nations as a single governing body for the many nations of Earth, now including territories on Luna, Mars, and Venus. Initially, the governing of the Solar Alliance was run in a largely democratic fashion, with popularly elected officials running regional, planetary, and interplanetary offices, culminating in a presidential position that had nearly unlimited power. However, as a safeguard, the requirements to become president were exhaustive, helping to ensure only the very best could obtain the coveted office. As the Alliance continued to expand across the Sol system, however, problems began to arise with the operation of the government. With the Alliance effectively including all of humanity, everyone was automatically a citizen, and thus given the right to vote. As is the nature of humanity, many different opinions and stances were placed in the public view. At first, these presented little trouble, people enjoyed their freedoms. However, by the 24th century, mankind numbered almost twenty billion, across three planets, nearly a dozen moons, and countless asteroid-based colonies. The sheer noise of public opinions given out was astronomical, with every single minor action performed by the Alliance being met by waves of protest, often violent in nature. Additionally, the free-voting system, allowing anyone to cast their votes, allowed numerous extremist groups to place representatives in mid- to high-level positions of government, to further their own warped agendas. Combined with wide-spread “voter apathy”, this began to tear apart the social fabric of the Alliance. It was not until the eruption of the War of the Red Hand, however, in 2326, that matters reached a head. The first civil war in the history of the Solar Alliance, this conflict lasted nearly six years, and dealt significant damage to every world of the Alliance. Upon its completion, and the overthrow of the extremist factions which had nearly taken over, the Solar Alliance charter was drastically altered. The single office of the presidency was abolished, with ultimate leadership of the Alliance changing to a senate, containing representatives of each of the member worlds, as well as the largest colonies. The right to vote was restricted, from everyone to only “citizens”, which had earned such a status through service to the government, whether being employed by the government, serving in the military, or various other forms of service. This essentially shifted the voting block to only those who had demonstrated some semblance of actual commitment to the preservation of the Alliance, and their ability to serve something bigger than themselves. These changes become hugely successful, and the government of the Solar Alliance undergoes little change on a fundamental level over the next two thousand years. As it spreads out to numerous solar systems and worlds, the ruling senate grows and shifts to accommodate representatives from dozens, then hundreds, and finally thousands of worlds. Though the overall structure of the Solar Alliance remains the same over the centuries, individual worlds are free to rule themselves as they see fit, as long as certain portions of the Charter are adhered to. This leads to a wide variety of governmental styles, ranging from traditional monarchies to more exotic forms of governance. The majority of the worlds, including Terranis, utilize a planetary governor, elected by the citizens of that world, and usually some form of planetary senate or council, as well as a representative of the world for the Alliance senate. While the majority of humanity claimed membership in the Alliance, there were still many territories, worlds, and even whole systems which remained outside its jurisdiction. The Alliance generally co-existed with these territories without incident, though there were still instances of belligerence, hostility, and even war at times. Sometimes worlds or systems would also attempt to secede from the Alliance, frequently declaring war for their independence. These rebelling worlds were, without exception, crushed by the superior resources of the Alliance. Individual worlds also typically maintained their own independent militaries, in addition to the main peacekeeping army of the Solar Alliance. If disputes arose between member worlds, the Alliance would attempt to moderate the dispute, but would not typically refrain from becoming directly involved, unless the conflict threatened to spill out across worlds or territories not involved. And thus the Alliance endured all the way to the start of the Judgment War, and lasted through the conclusion of the conflict, until the Solar Alliance itself was destroyed by the Great Enemy.
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