Celestial Union
The Celestial Union is an interstellar power bloc which originated after the End of Earth and went on to become one of the primary superpowers which squabbled during the Second Interstellar Period. At its peak it controlled over a third of the Starweb.
Their solution was the National Preservation Project, an effort to preserve the essence of Chinese civilization in its colonies should disaster befall Terra or humanity as a whole. (The Americans did something similar with their Refuge Worlds.) As the Wormhole Rush drew to a close and the crises which would lead to the End of Earth began setting in, the Chinese leadership quietly evacuated.
After this, the Chinese colonies gradually reconstituted themselves as the Celestial Union, successor government to their old homeland on Earth. As humanity's wormhole network was rebuilt, the Union became a player in the politics of the Second Interstellar Period. This caused a counter-unification among American worlds into the American Federation, and a superpower rivalry was born. These two blocs, and others, went on to fight a series of seemingly unending conflicts and wars, settling into a meta-stable state as technology advanced to the point where both could threaten each other's worlds with devastation in a manner similar to the Cold War of Terran history. This tense peace did not last, however: something destabilized it, and Second Interstellar Period civilization destroyed itself in an apocalyptic final war.
Unlike the American Federation, the Union managed to survive the Interstellar Dark Ages with some level of continuity and was still around in a limited form by the time of the Stellar Compact's formation, where the social movement of the day was to bury the hatchet and prevent another civilization crash from happening again. In the present day, it is more of a cultural forum and economic bloc than a political entity. Its major political players—those who were not convicted of war crimes like many other superpower leaders, at least—wield considerable influence within the Stellar Compact. These influencers are known to be skeptical of recontact with worlds that once played a role in the devastation of their own planets, demanding these efforts proceed slowly and carefully to preclude a resurgence of militaristic sentiment.
History
Its official history traces back to the Chinese nation on Old Terra. During the Wormhole Rush China, which had taken the position of planetary hegemonic power from the crumbling Ancient America, was a prolific explorer and colonizer, establishing settlements on several habitable planets. This phase of expansionistic national pride hit a roadblock when the Chinese interstellar program discovered a world which hosted the ruins of a now-extinct sapient species. Prior to this, Terran civilization had been floundering for several decades, the old paradigm of economic growth having run into a series of brick walls with resource depletion, pollution, and climate breakdown, all signs of having overshot the limits of Terra's biosphere. Now the Chinese had evidence of a similar civilization failing to make the jump to a self-sustaining interstellar state, casting serious doubts on the expected future of humanity.Their solution was the National Preservation Project, an effort to preserve the essence of Chinese civilization in its colonies should disaster befall Terra or humanity as a whole. (The Americans did something similar with their Refuge Worlds.) As the Wormhole Rush drew to a close and the crises which would lead to the End of Earth began setting in, the Chinese leadership quietly evacuated.
After this, the Chinese colonies gradually reconstituted themselves as the Celestial Union, successor government to their old homeland on Earth. As humanity's wormhole network was rebuilt, the Union became a player in the politics of the Second Interstellar Period. This caused a counter-unification among American worlds into the American Federation, and a superpower rivalry was born. These two blocs, and others, went on to fight a series of seemingly unending conflicts and wars, settling into a meta-stable state as technology advanced to the point where both could threaten each other's worlds with devastation in a manner similar to the Cold War of Terran history. This tense peace did not last, however: something destabilized it, and Second Interstellar Period civilization destroyed itself in an apocalyptic final war.
Unlike the American Federation, the Union managed to survive the Interstellar Dark Ages with some level of continuity and was still around in a limited form by the time of the Stellar Compact's formation, where the social movement of the day was to bury the hatchet and prevent another civilization crash from happening again. In the present day, it is more of a cultural forum and economic bloc than a political entity. Its major political players—those who were not convicted of war crimes like many other superpower leaders, at least—wield considerable influence within the Stellar Compact. These influencers are known to be skeptical of recontact with worlds that once played a role in the devastation of their own planets, demanding these efforts proceed slowly and carefully to preclude a resurgence of militaristic sentiment.
Structure
In the Second Interstellar Period, the Celestial Union had a supreme legislature and executive governing its constituent member worlds. Its Confucian values gave its people a great deal of respect and deference to the elderly, resulting in it becoming one of the most gerontocratic organizations to ever exist in the Starweb after the invention of rejuvenation therapy, even beating out several American congresses.
Neighboring Nations
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