Post by Insano-Man on Sept 24, 2018 9:21:31 GMT -5
The Garrant Commonwealth
The Garrant Commonwealth is the third largest, fourth most militarily capable, and single most economically successful nation in the known galaxy, trailing just behind the Ollenhall Administration in colonial holdings. For centuries, the nation has been at the head of the Anchorage Colonial Authority and Coalition of Human Systems alongside its unlikely, millenia-old partner; the Praetorian Federation.
The Commonwealth is one of the oldest human nations in existence, stemming from its origins on the fertile Garrant continent on Anchorage. From there, it rose slowly to become a world power and eventually became the first space nation on its homeworld with the foundation of the now-bustling colony of Juneau in its home system. From there on, particularly after faster-than-light travel was made practical by the Ollenhall crash-landing in 1340 A.F., the Commonwealth would rise to become one of the most expansive interstellar empires in the known galaxy, bringing with it an economic golden age that has persisted for hundreds of years.
With its open and progressive policies, the Commonwealth has also shined as a beacon of freedom and good government since the beginning of the second industrial age on Anchorage. With both thoroughly-regulated and thoroughly-promoted business, expansive civil rights for its citizens, and a transparent government filled with strict checks and balances, popular opinion of the Commonwealth is overwhelmingly favorable, both at home and abroad. Some would even go so far as to consider it a genuine force of good among mankind.
This, however, is only a small part of the picture. What many do not know is that the Garrant Commonwealth is also one of the most subversive nations in existence, employing hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of intelligence gatherers, spies, saboteurs, and even pirate raiding bands to ensure its own success. Many a fledgling nation has collapsed under the combined strength of internal sabotage and raids on its territory thanks to the almost independent External Intelligence branch of the Garran Armed Forces. With its callous imperialist attitude and selective ignorance of troubled countries, the Commonwealth can easily be seen as another unfortunately balanced country vying for its own and little else.
Furthermore, its close relationship with the Praetorian Federation - a nation one might believe would be the Commonwealth's opposite - further brings it into questionable conflicts. While reluctant to directly involve itself in the conquest of other nations, the close alliance the Garran government maintains with the Federation is one both of necessity and desire, as its partner's military might has often been one of the few things sparing it from its own dissolution. And with its lengthy list of colonial holdings that would need to be defended in wartime, keeping the third most powerful military in the galaxy at its side is more than just a sentimental relationship.
The Commonwealth's history is long, troubled, and indicative of its slow rise to an interstellar superpower. It began on Anchorage long after the Faith had been abandoned on the Garrant continent for which it is named for. Its people had long been harassed by the pseudo-tribes that would eventually become the Marroli, who continued this practice until their eventual conquest in the Fourth Ice War by those they had constantly attacked. For centuries, even during the beginning of the Burning Winter, the Commonwealth would be widely known for both its large territorial size and poorly developed lands, often a result of fear that the territories would be seized in the event of a war with their confrontational neighbors. As time continued on and Garran influence grew past that of the Marroli, this fear would eventually fade and vanish altogether with the conclusion of the Fourth Ice War, more commonly known among Garran historians as the Second Marroli War. With much to rebuild and a number of rebellions to quell following the fall of the Marroli, the economic power the nation is famous for would take some time to build up.
But as space travel became practical once more, the Commonwealth would soon reach for the success it now holds. Pioneering extraterrestrial colonial efforts, long-distance space travel, and - following the events of 1340 A.F. - interstellar commerce, the Garran economy swelled far beyond what its leaders and people could possibly have imagined. That growth, while comparatively muted, continues today as colonies continue to develop and more holdings are acquired.
Outside of Anchorage, the Garrant Commonwealth is also the chief ally of both the recent Coalition inclusion of the Republic of Tharkad and the long-standing members of the Celdskon Alliances. As with other nations of the Coalition, it maintains an awkward, practically hostile relationship with the Ollenhall Administration and Verinen Permanos Regentic, as well as the Inkron Governance Sphere. To all nations in the Coalition of Human Systems, it holds warm, if not outright friendly relations thanks to its relatively beneficial stance towards its allies.
However, to those outside the Coalition, little can be said of the Commonwealth's relations. The few growing nations that have survived its quiet attempts at eliminating them hold nothing but a cold resentment. All others keep themselves neutral and at arm's length from the Commonwealth, owing to the country's history of making unfair economic agreements - frequently those that a smaller nation would have no choice but to accept - and volatile relations with those aligned against the Coalition.
The Commonwealth, like most of modern Anchorage and human-controlled space, is an English-speaking nation with a significant influence from the cultures carried aboard its generation ship. Onboard the Faith, these cultures were primarily European, most significantly Germanic and Slavic. Likewise, the bulk of the Garran population speaks German or Russian alongside English. Notable in the Commonwealth is a significant British and Irish influence, where the cultural enclaves of which have not only held against assimilation by the dominant influences, but spread in the face of it. Some contribute this to the eventual dominance of the English language as the common tongue of Anchorage. Anglisech was the dominant degenerate language that succeeded English in the years after the Faith's landing, formed from a large vocabulary of developed slang and simplified words of both German and English. It often coexisted with its predecessors, but eventually fell into almost total disuse and language death following the re-adoption of English. Today, Anglisech - literally "peoplespeak" - is mostly used for artistic or historical purposes. Owing to its relatively isolated and compact nature, it is also regularly used in military code as basic encryption and vocal communications among fully Garran units.
Since its beginnings, things pertaining to the Commonwealth have been regarded as Garran, while the nation itself is most often called, quite simply, the Commonwealth. While offering better distinction between other countries under similar monikers - such as the Anglossick Commonwealth on Anchorage - Garrant, while correct and used regularly in official documents, is hardly used to refer to the nation it is the name for. More often, Garrant is used informally as a distinguishing element for foreigners; those who use Garrant as the adjective, rather than Garran, are typically considered uneducated on the country or culturally insensitive. While the distinction is slight, even in speaking, the Anglisech definitions of the words - and their cultural associations - are much different. "Garran" translates roughly to "state-appointed landholder", whereas "Garrant" means "state-owned land". During the decades prior to the Commonwealth's formation, there was little private property, meaning most worked for regional administrators or private renters who subleased land for a profit. During these times, where life under the precursor nations was eerily similar to serfdom, "Garrant" would often find itself meaning not only the land, but the lessees working it, most often simply to break even. In turn, "Garrant" would sometimes find itself as a shortening for "Garrantsche" - or "rent slaves" in Anglisech. Further building on this cultural definition, Garrantsche has found its way into use as a derogatory term for Garran individuals, where its actual meaning - and the little relevance it has in modern times - is ignored purely for its hateful connotations.
The Garrant Commonwealth is the third largest, fourth most militarily capable, and single most economically successful nation in the known galaxy, trailing just behind the Ollenhall Administration in colonial holdings. For centuries, the nation has been at the head of the Anchorage Colonial Authority and Coalition of Human Systems alongside its unlikely, millenia-old partner; the Praetorian Federation.
The Commonwealth is one of the oldest human nations in existence, stemming from its origins on the fertile Garrant continent on Anchorage. From there, it rose slowly to become a world power and eventually became the first space nation on its homeworld with the foundation of the now-bustling colony of Juneau in its home system. From there on, particularly after faster-than-light travel was made practical by the Ollenhall crash-landing in 1340 A.F., the Commonwealth would rise to become one of the most expansive interstellar empires in the known galaxy, bringing with it an economic golden age that has persisted for hundreds of years.
With its open and progressive policies, the Commonwealth has also shined as a beacon of freedom and good government since the beginning of the second industrial age on Anchorage. With both thoroughly-regulated and thoroughly-promoted business, expansive civil rights for its citizens, and a transparent government filled with strict checks and balances, popular opinion of the Commonwealth is overwhelmingly favorable, both at home and abroad. Some would even go so far as to consider it a genuine force of good among mankind.
This, however, is only a small part of the picture. What many do not know is that the Garrant Commonwealth is also one of the most subversive nations in existence, employing hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of intelligence gatherers, spies, saboteurs, and even pirate raiding bands to ensure its own success. Many a fledgling nation has collapsed under the combined strength of internal sabotage and raids on its territory thanks to the almost independent External Intelligence branch of the Garran Armed Forces. With its callous imperialist attitude and selective ignorance of troubled countries, the Commonwealth can easily be seen as another unfortunately balanced country vying for its own and little else.
Furthermore, its close relationship with the Praetorian Federation - a nation one might believe would be the Commonwealth's opposite - further brings it into questionable conflicts. While reluctant to directly involve itself in the conquest of other nations, the close alliance the Garran government maintains with the Federation is one both of necessity and desire, as its partner's military might has often been one of the few things sparing it from its own dissolution. And with its lengthy list of colonial holdings that would need to be defended in wartime, keeping the third most powerful military in the galaxy at its side is more than just a sentimental relationship.
The Commonwealth's history is long, troubled, and indicative of its slow rise to an interstellar superpower. It began on Anchorage long after the Faith had been abandoned on the Garrant continent for which it is named for. Its people had long been harassed by the pseudo-tribes that would eventually become the Marroli, who continued this practice until their eventual conquest in the Fourth Ice War by those they had constantly attacked. For centuries, even during the beginning of the Burning Winter, the Commonwealth would be widely known for both its large territorial size and poorly developed lands, often a result of fear that the territories would be seized in the event of a war with their confrontational neighbors. As time continued on and Garran influence grew past that of the Marroli, this fear would eventually fade and vanish altogether with the conclusion of the Fourth Ice War, more commonly known among Garran historians as the Second Marroli War. With much to rebuild and a number of rebellions to quell following the fall of the Marroli, the economic power the nation is famous for would take some time to build up.
But as space travel became practical once more, the Commonwealth would soon reach for the success it now holds. Pioneering extraterrestrial colonial efforts, long-distance space travel, and - following the events of 1340 A.F. - interstellar commerce, the Garran economy swelled far beyond what its leaders and people could possibly have imagined. That growth, while comparatively muted, continues today as colonies continue to develop and more holdings are acquired.
Outside of Anchorage, the Garrant Commonwealth is also the chief ally of both the recent Coalition inclusion of the Republic of Tharkad and the long-standing members of the Celdskon Alliances. As with other nations of the Coalition, it maintains an awkward, practically hostile relationship with the Ollenhall Administration and Verinen Permanos Regentic, as well as the Inkron Governance Sphere. To all nations in the Coalition of Human Systems, it holds warm, if not outright friendly relations thanks to its relatively beneficial stance towards its allies.
However, to those outside the Coalition, little can be said of the Commonwealth's relations. The few growing nations that have survived its quiet attempts at eliminating them hold nothing but a cold resentment. All others keep themselves neutral and at arm's length from the Commonwealth, owing to the country's history of making unfair economic agreements - frequently those that a smaller nation would have no choice but to accept - and volatile relations with those aligned against the Coalition.
The Commonwealth, like most of modern Anchorage and human-controlled space, is an English-speaking nation with a significant influence from the cultures carried aboard its generation ship. Onboard the Faith, these cultures were primarily European, most significantly Germanic and Slavic. Likewise, the bulk of the Garran population speaks German or Russian alongside English. Notable in the Commonwealth is a significant British and Irish influence, where the cultural enclaves of which have not only held against assimilation by the dominant influences, but spread in the face of it. Some contribute this to the eventual dominance of the English language as the common tongue of Anchorage. Anglisech was the dominant degenerate language that succeeded English in the years after the Faith's landing, formed from a large vocabulary of developed slang and simplified words of both German and English. It often coexisted with its predecessors, but eventually fell into almost total disuse and language death following the re-adoption of English. Today, Anglisech - literally "peoplespeak" - is mostly used for artistic or historical purposes. Owing to its relatively isolated and compact nature, it is also regularly used in military code as basic encryption and vocal communications among fully Garran units.
Since its beginnings, things pertaining to the Commonwealth have been regarded as Garran, while the nation itself is most often called, quite simply, the Commonwealth. While offering better distinction between other countries under similar monikers - such as the Anglossick Commonwealth on Anchorage - Garrant, while correct and used regularly in official documents, is hardly used to refer to the nation it is the name for. More often, Garrant is used informally as a distinguishing element for foreigners; those who use Garrant as the adjective, rather than Garran, are typically considered uneducated on the country or culturally insensitive. While the distinction is slight, even in speaking, the Anglisech definitions of the words - and their cultural associations - are much different. "Garran" translates roughly to "state-appointed landholder", whereas "Garrant" means "state-owned land". During the decades prior to the Commonwealth's formation, there was little private property, meaning most worked for regional administrators or private renters who subleased land for a profit. During these times, where life under the precursor nations was eerily similar to serfdom, "Garrant" would often find itself meaning not only the land, but the lessees working it, most often simply to break even. In turn, "Garrant" would sometimes find itself as a shortening for "Garrantsche" - or "rent slaves" in Anglisech. Further building on this cultural definition, Garrantsche has found its way into use as a derogatory term for Garran individuals, where its actual meaning - and the little relevance it has in modern times - is ignored purely for its hateful connotations.
