Difference between revisions of "Federal Republic of Rheinland"
| Line 67: | Line 67: | ||
==See also== | ==See also== | ||
| + | * [[History of Rheinland]] | ||
| + | * [[Timeline of Rheinland history]] | ||
| + | * [[NPC Factions#Rheinland|Groups and factions in Rheinland]] | ||
* [[Sirius Sector]] | * [[Sirius Sector]] | ||
| − | |||
{{House_Listing}} | {{House_Listing}} | ||
Revision as of 16:25, 30 August 2008
| House Rheinland | |||||
| Bundesrepublik Rheinland | |||||
 | |||||
| Capital | Planet New Berlin, New Berlin System | ||||
| Official languages | German, English | ||||
| |||||
| Founded | 3 A.S. | ||||
| Controlled space | |||||
| Affiliated organisations | |||||
Rheinland, or the Federal Republic of Rheinland (Bundesrepublik Rheinland) is the title of one of the four original houses in Sirius. It's territory extends from the fringes of the Crow Nebula to the yellow clouds of the Walker Nebula, with territorial claims deep inside the nebula itself. It is a theocratic, fascist dictatorship ruled by a Kanzler as head of state and government. Rheinland sovereign territories border the systems of Sigma-13, Omega-11, Omega-7, Hudson and Bering. The state military maintains it's bases in several systems connected to Rheinland by jump holes, such as Omega-15.
History
Main article: History of Rheinland
Early periods
The Rheinland was originally the name of one of the four Alliance sleeper ships carrying colonists on their escape from the Solar System to the Sirius Sector. This single ship was containing several thousand refugees from the German part of the Alliance. The ship arrived in the Sirius sector in 2 A.S., surveying space for almost an entire year before finally landing on a cold planet that would be later christened New Berlin, the system it lied in recieving the same name. The conditions on the planet encouraged quick expansion, and Rheinland would soon begin building orbital facilities in the LaGrange points along the orbital path of New Berlin's moon, Potsdam. These facilities would later be connected to each other to form The Ring, which would be used to construct the first Rheinland ships as well as the necessary mining equipment to extract the minerals from the vast asteroid fields in the New Berlin system itself.
Rheinland Empire
The Rheinlanders would quickly establish an emergency state for themselves, in order to rapidly conduct decisions during the process of colonisation. This state, although composed of the Reichstag housing hundreds of representatives, would come to politically mimick the 19th century German Empire, thus developing a very patriotic and imperialist tendency. would quickly consider using it's vast military resources to take what they need from the GMG. With the discovery of the Stuttgart and Dresden systems, Rheinland's food problems would be a past memory, while it's mining and shipbuilding industry would completely skyrocket, eventually producing a large, but resource consuming navy. This navy was widely regarded as able to singlehandedly conquer any other house in the sector, even by outside analysts. What Rheinland did not have was the H-Fuel required to effectively maintain such a navy. The Kruger Minerals operation in Sigma-13 that has been positioned beside the GMG was quickly running out of space, as the fiercely independent Guild grabbed as much space as it could and protected it from Kruger advances.
Eighty Years War (589-668 A.S.)
Ineffective tactics against the fast guerilla strikes of the GMG have rendered the Rheinland Military unable to hold it's ground in the low physical and sensor visibility Sigma-13 system, while also unable to progress further due to the diplomatic issues of breaching Kusari space. This allowed the Guild to using their advantage of mobility to steadily pound away at the Rheinlanders, until the defense lines began to collapse. The culmination of the war occured in 668 A.S. as the last standing battlegroup of the Rheinland Military charged into Sigma-13 in a last ditch attempt to take the system once and for all. They were met by a sizable force of Guild fighters, which slowly reduced the entire fleet to rubble, effectively ending the war in a decisive victory. Rheinland was left battered and weak, it's economy and government collapsing in on itself. With it's industries surviving only due to a large loan given by Liberty, and the Rheinland currency suffering from extreme devaluation as a result, the house was on the brink of no less than open revolution.
Popular Revolution (672 A.S.)
On Von Rohe's Day, 672 A.S., Daumann mining stations in Dresden were seized and locked down by miners in a widespread general strike. Supplied by Bundschuh revolutionaries, the miners managed to hold out on the station for weeks before word finally got out to the rest of Rheinland. Three months later, sympathetic workers disable other Daumann facilities on Planet New Berlin, joining in the protests. With the industrial heart of the economy grinding to a halt, riots beginning to pop up all across Rheinland, the government is finally forced to give in. The Bundschuh movement is publically recognised, and it's representatives meet with the imperialists soon after. A period of tense negotiations follows, and a coalition government is eventually formed. In the same year the Kaiser would officially step down from his office, and the former empire would now become a federal republic.
Federal Republic of Rheinland
Although with far more significance placed on the Reichstag, the Republic was still very dependent on a central position of power, in this case - a Chancellor. The eighth century would mostly be synonymous with the slow rebuilding of the Rheinland economy, as well as the eventual expulsion of the Bundschuh from the parliament, and the formation of several strong partisan and criminal movements that would plague the state with their activity for decades to come.
At the end of the eighth century, a group of Rheinland researchers in the Omicron systems would stumble upon a most extraordinary cache. Alien artifacts would be recovered by the hundreds, and transported back to the core worlds where they would be contested by both researchers and rich collectors. It would also be the beginning of the Nomad infestation in Rheinland, which would eventually reach Chancellor Niemann himself, and signal the beginning of the second large scale conflict in Sirius.
Nomad War (800-801 A.S.)
At the start of the ninth century the other three houses would be alarmed with the quick transition of the Rheinland republic into a de facto police state. Rheinland Military forces would be sighted as far as California and Tau-29, engaging both Liberty and Bretonian personnel seemingly at random. The war itself would begin in earnest at the time of the Rheinland invasion on Kusari, where almost half the rebuilt Rheinland navy had been infested by the Nomads and had attacked Honshu through Sigma-13.
During the large battle between the two fleets, the freelancer known as Edison Trent would decisively defeat the Nomads by cutting their source of power, thereby freeing the rest of Rheinland. The remaining infested ships in Kusari would withdraw, and would later become known as the Wilde.
Present day
Controlled and contested space
The Federal Republic consists of six star systems (New Berlin, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Dresden, Munich, Hamburg), four of those containing a habitable planet (New Berlin, Stuttgart, Munich, Hamburg). Each planet is under the direct supervision of a planetary governor, although still being officially controlled by the central Rheinland state, and the Kanzler.
Territorial claims
Rheinland Military units can be encountered in the Bering and Omega-7 systems, supervising trade and conducting patrols. There is also a battleship (Schwerin) stationed in Omega-15, right next to the jump hole to Dresden. The trade lanes in Omega-7 are broadcasting a Rheinland Police IFF, indicating a degree of direct state control, despite the still official independent status of the system. Claims in Sigma-13 have been withdrawn following the conclusion of the Eighty Years War.
