Terran Republic

The Terran Republic was . . .

Origins

In the years after the development of Dio En Mashino by the Cel-Tainu Astrophysical Research Corporation the return to interstellar travel was incredibly quick, and extremely chaotic. More advanced worlds soon came to dominate, with their ability to build and maintain hop-capable vessels. Wars, such as the Novya Siberia Belshane War, soon became common. Corporations, taking advantage of the lawlessness of interstellar space, took advantage of more barbaric populations; enslaving them or driving them off of territory that they had occupied for centuries.

It was, however, the discovery of the Iadian Massacre that pushed the most powerful worlds, the later Imperial Core Worlds, to finally find some means of accomodation. The fear of some unknown power capable of destroying a planet, brought them together in the Pan Terran Defense Treaty Council.

However, a growing number of political thinkers realized that this alone was not enough. A proper political union of some kind was needed. It was Janoos Welkred, journalist and adventurer who, through his Republican Papers, distributed by his media empire, Welkred Communications, that made the most compelling case. Welkred envisioned a Republic of the Terrans, with each human world its member, each picking representatives for a great Senate of Humanity that would govern the affairs in a peaceful, productive manner.

Welkred was soon joined by more powerful allies, in particular Reth Tawmerik, scion of a wealthy family, celebrated military leader and possibly the most charismatic man of his time. He aided Welkred in taking the overly-idealized Republic of the Terrans and producing a model government that, to them at least, seemed more workable.

Gaining support from the Core Worlds, a working group from several worlds was given the task of formulating a constitution. it was Tawmerik’s suggestion that they look at the Stellar Treaty of great antiquity, and in particular the section entitled Recommended Model Planetary Constitution, which became, with few modifications, the constitution that the working group delivered two standard years later.

Factions Within the Republic

Historians group the various factions within the Republic into three categories. The first category were the Realists. The Realists were those not beguiled by the utopian promise of a unified republic. They realized that the present Oligarchs and other forces would not allow their power to be undermined by mob rule. These were those non-Oligarchs who actively supported the status quo. It was through these factions that the Empire was able to gather a toe-hold and eventually replace the Republic.

The second category of factions were the Idealists. These were those groups who thought that a republic could undermine established power. They hoped that by building a strong and lasting people-dominated assembly true unity could emerge. These attitudes were not lost with the demise of the Republic, however. The Reformed Bank Of The Empire was a creation of the Imperial Congress in a similar attempt to erode plutocratic rule.

What the Idealists failed to take into account was the long delay of time in travel from the various systems. They hoped for a stronger central government–something not possible when travel times between systems were sometimes months in duration and routes frequently hazardous. The resulting Empire essentially maintained plutocratic rule, providing the Oligarchs supported the Emperor.

The third group were the so-called Confederationists. They objected to strong centralization, and while holding that the Republic could produce stability, believed that a strongly centralized government would not tolerate diversity. In the end, the Confederationists ended up weakening the Idealist position and leaving the Republic too vulnerable and politically homogenous to survive.

The Eras of the Republic

Though the Republic lasted only a few decades, its history can conveniently be divided into three eras; the Early, High and Late Eras.

The Early Republic

With the approval of a large majority of systems to the Constitution, the Terran Republic officially came into existence, with Reth Tawmerik as the first Prime Minister. Tawmerik seemed keen to remain more of a ceremonial figure than as a naked political force. His first cabinet was filled with a good mix of Idealists and Realists, and he played the role of diplomat between the early factions.

The earliest Congress played it safe, unsure of its powers and unwilling to interfere too greatly in the politics of individual systems. Still, some progress was made, though thorny issues such as taxation and inter-system trade proved too much for the tame Congresspeople. The discovery of the Riojier Commonwealth was impetus to begin an amendment process to the Constitution, make more enlarge the Congress’s military and economic powers.

The High Republic

The timing of new elections to the Congress were a period of great change. The Confederationist factions, now coalesced into the Confederation Party, now controlled the Congress, and Tawmerik, perhaps unwilling to work with such a lopsided majority, resigned. He was replaced by Veltrane Fres Volon, who had served as Minister of Trade after his system joined the Republic. Volon immediately set about cancelling the working committee that Tawmerik had struck up on Constitutional reforms.

Volon’s term was tumultuous and divisive, but did see the Oligarch-backed Republican Party form to counterbalance the Confederationists. The Idealists were now a minority, pinned between two powerful and tightly disciplined factions. Never the less, the Idealists finally had some success when they finally united with the Republicans in an attempt to impeach Volon. The impeachment failed but Volon’s position was now impossible and he resigned, thus paving the way for the third Prime Minister, the idealist Catra Nejurmo.

Nejurmo was a weak Prime Minister and soon lost control of her cabinet in a revolt over her attempt to reconstitute the Constitutional amendment committee. She hung on to power by aligning herself with the Confederationists, but when they suffered severe electoral defeats in the next Congressional elections she was defeated in her attempt to run for office again.

The Republicans now controlled Congress, but power brought disunity, and the Idealists were again able to put a candidate, Loweran Kowker, a lawyer of good reputation, in the Prime Minister’s office. Kowker was the longest servering Prime Minister, holding the position for the better part of two standard decades. A keen administrator, he essentially chose the path of least resistance, letting Republicans and Confederationists battle it out in Congress, until the wheels of government all but stalled.

In the midst of Kowker’s term, the Voshium Insurrection broke out, as the [Star Systems](/macropedia/star-systems)/Voshium attempted seceed. Kowker’s one moment of true leadership was to convince Congress to send out Reth Tawmerik to quell the rebellion. They finally agreed when two diplomats dispatched by Congress were murdered. Tawmerik made short work of the Voshium Insurrectionists, and brought back their leader, Messen Fremezulejo, who went quickly from being prisoner to one of Tawmerik’s inner circle.

The Late Republic

Kowker’s later years were typified by his inability to effect any sort of change in Congress and in other branches of the Republic, in particular the Bafiktuy Intelligence Directive. They were now ostensibly the servants of the Republic, but in the growing Frontier of newly rediscovered systems, they did as they pleased. They’re torture of the prophet Alaer was to have disastrous consequences, but many other ill deeds were associated with them, leading to a great deal of discontent in the Frontier worlds.

Kowker finally resigned his post, citing exhaustion and the need for new leadership. Congress was now more divided than ever. The Idealists had lost all influence, and the Republicans had melted into rival Realist factions. The Confederationists were frequently blamed, even by their own supporters, for promoting policies that had made the divisions so insurmountable. As a demonstration of how much it took to get a majority to agree, the choice for Kowker’s successor fell on a well-meaning but inexperienced aristocrat-cum-bureucrat, Benita Perez. Seen as the compromise candidate, she proved even more incompetent than Kowker.

In reality, Perez’s succession was a virtually meaningless act. The Oligarchs and key Realist members of Congress were already plotting a substantial change. The Republic had proven too unstable, too divided and insufficiently politically mature to bring order to human space. Perez learned too late just where the lines of power really lead. Whatever her intelligence network was, it was good enough to trace the Republic’s woes to Alistair Cormwite, and through him to Reth Tawmerik, first Prime Minister, great Republican and war hero. All the signs were there, however. Tawmerik’s old push for Constitutional reform was now replaced by condemnation of those that sought to change the Republic into “a den fit for self-serving civil servants”, a clear jab at Perez.

Perez’s ministry was cut short. So great was the discontent, stoked by the great hero Reth Tawmerik’s fiery invective, that when he marched into the Congress, arrested Perez and other high officials on charges of treason and malfeasance, the public outcry wasn’t for his head, but for Perez’s.

References

Reformed Bank Of The Empire