Albion Kingdom
Great Britain has long been wholly integrated into an isle-spanning megalopolis, and the entire region is virtually synonymous with the capital of London itself. The Albion Kingdom Flag was adopted in 2383 and its design was meant to evoke the region’s earlier flags - particularly the national flag of the United Kingdom and the Standard of the President of Ireland.
Structure
The Albion Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy in which the reigning monarch (that is, the king or queen who is the head of state at any given time) does not make any open political decisions. All political decisions are taken by the government and Parliament. This constitutional state of affairs is the result of a long history of constraining and reducing the political power of the monarch, beginning with Magna Carta in 1215.
The political system of the Albion Kingdom is a parliamentary democracy operating within a federal system. The Kingdom has its own regional and assemblies, with councils and authorities placed beneath them. National policy is set by the Parliament of Westminster, in London, whose members are elected by proportion to population. The head of government, known as the Prime Minister, is traditionally the leader of the largest party (either singly or in a bloc) to possess a majority in Parliament.
Elections for Assemblies are held every three local years as standard, with some places operating differently. The Parliament is elected every six years, with a General Referendum of Confidence held after three years. All constituencies possess the right to recall their representatives if dissatisfied by presenting a petition with a quorum of two-thirds majority. Such a petition will trigger a by-election at whatever level. A by-election is also triggered by the resignation or death of the incumbent assembly person or MP.
Culture
The Albion Kingdom is, like most of the Sectors on Earth, a multicultural society. It exhibits characteristics of all the constituent peoples that came together in the 1940s under the British occupation governments from India, Australia, Africa, North America and Europe. The dominant language is still English, however, and whilst there have been moments of tension, the present day sees a generally uniform 'Albion' culture exist across the nation. This was helped in part by the new national flag designed in the 2360s.
Albions are by and large friendly but reserved, in a way similar to their nation's foreign policy. They enjoy a multitude of different hobbies and activities, and the Albion Kingdom is known for its quirky and distinct cultural products; from comedic television shows to small budget but high grossing films.
The nation is scrupulously class conscious, with high awareness of social background and economic prospects tied to mannerism and dress. The boundaries and styles have changed over time, but the basic structure still remains in much the same as it did in the 1930s and 40s.
Sport is popular, although Albion games are rarely played beyond the Albion Kingdom's borders. Football is the most popular, followed by rugby, and the newer sport of cricket. The most common forum for social interaction is the famous local public house or 'pub'. Like most traditional Albion pastimes it is both ironically sneered at by the populace as well as cherished. The nation is by and large very aware of its long and serried past, and the traditional often occur right alongside the modern in everyday and political life.
Citizenship in the Albion Kingdom is acquired by birth to at least one parent of Albion heritage, although it can also be acquired through marriage to an Albion citizen. Unlike some nations, the Albion Kingdom rarely uses citizenship or passports as a means of playing politics, either to punish discontents or to encourage defections from other powers.
Military
The military forces of the Albion Kingdom are divided between three service arms, each with their own subdivisions. The largest and most senior is the Royal Navy, followed by the Royal Air Force and finally the Royal Army. The Albion Kingdom has a volunteer tradition in its armed forces, and has only introduced conscription once in its long history.
The largest and most senior of the Albion military arms, the Royal Navy is responsible for securing the British isles, as well as delivering other forces to hotspots around the Earth. The Royal Navy is the pride of the Albion Kingdom, and is often referred to as the 'eldest daughter of the crown'.
The Royal Navy has no official founding date but was active from the 15th Century as the seaborne force of the King of England. As England, and then the United Kingdom, expanded its influence, the Royal Navy became the glue that held together and protected the burgeoning empire. It was for many years both the first and last line of defense against enemies.
Over its illustrious history, the Royal Navy established a legacy of superb seamanship and leadership. Battles such as Trafalgar and heroes like Nelson cemented for the United Kingdom a legacy of naval strength that went unchallenged for centuries. Only one serious challenger ever emerged, the German High Seas Fleet of the early Twentieth Century, but even that threat could not topple the mighty Royal Navy, despite the dubious result of the Battle of Jutland.
When the Albion Kingdom made the transition to spaceflight, the responsibility for armed space vessels was initially divided between the Navy and its younger sibling the RAF. As technology advanced, however, it became clear that soon space vessels would soon be as large as, if not larger, than the battleships of Earth's history, and after a Defense Review of the armed forces of the Albion Kingdom, Parliament invested the Royal Navy with control of all spacecraft above a certain tonnage (excepting civilian vessels used for non-military commercial purposes.)
The Royal Navy continues to undertake very similar roles to its predecessor, and maintains many of the same traditions. It protects UFN shipping, ports and planets from enemies; enforces the Albion Kingdom's will in the far flung corners of the galaxy and delivers other combat arms to hotspots and peacekeeping missions. It conducts annual (Galactic Standard) wargames with the fleets of the other United Federation of Nations members, and often takes on training crews from other powers to 'show them the ropes' (an archaic term which is still in use).
Shipbuilding, both military and commercial, remains a big business in the Albion Kingdom, and so the Royal Navy possess some of the finest vessels amongst Federation space. The Royal Navy is also one of the few of the 'Earth Navies' to still have a sea bound vessel on active service, HMS Victory, the flagship of Lord Horatio Nelson. A subsidiary force, the Royal Navy Sea guard, is also technically under the admiralty's command. The Sea guard consists of a fleet of orbital capable high yield missiles, designed to protect a planet from orbiting spacecraft. These missiles are generally mounted on submarines, larger, more advanced and more efficient cousins of Twentieth Century vessels of the same name.
Overall, the Navy is a source of great pride to the people, and will remain a cornerstone of the Albion Kingdom for many years to come.
The Royal Air Force, or RAF, is the fighter and bomber arm of the Albion Kingdom's military. The youngest force, despite its name, now provides light craft to escort Royal Navy space vessels on combat operations, as well as air cover on planets in and beyond the Albion Kingdom.
Often depicted as composed of dashing, courageous and somewhat reckless pilots in popular culture, the RAF is perhaps the most glamorous, if not the most prestigious, arm of the Albion Kingdom's military. In fact, the RAF positively encourages the public image of the service in order to heighten recruitment, and has on more than one occasion 'temporarily' detached units in order to capture 'dogfights' for both film and television.
If there is anything more dashing than the RAF as a whole, then it has to be the UFN-renowned RAF elite squadron known as the 'Blue Knights'. This squadron, named after William 'The Blue Knight' Spalding, a fighter ace of the Reclamation Times, has a record number of confirmed kills to match a pretty high survival rate for single seat fighter pilots. Members of the RAF must pass rigorous tests in order to join the Blue Knights, and have a confirmed kill record of at least ten victories before they will be considered. All Blue Knight pilots are also officers, and many are rotated out of the unit in order to pass on their skills to other pilots both in the RAF and other Air Forces. Recruitment during peacetime is naturally impossible except for when a pilot retires or an unfortunate accident occurs (which it never has). Competition for the few vacancies is fierce even in wartime, and the Blue Knights are feared and respected in equal measure.
The RAF is not all about engaging enemy aircraft however. The force also maintains landing craft, gunships and shuttles (both medical, logistical and transportation) that smooth the wheels of military and aid operations. Nearly every Albion service personnel will spend some time on an RAF vessel of some kind or another. The service may be less glamorous but it is no less important, and RAF command has a habit of taking ace pilots out of combat craft and putting them on logistics duties in order to remind them of how important the 'crates' are. Even 'Blue Knights' have taken their turn at the wheel of a transport shuttle, and the RAF continues to take pride in its service in both skies and space.
The Royal Army is the tank and infantry corps of the Albion Kingdom. Serving on a myriad of worlds and in a thousand conflicts, the Royal Army may be the smallest in the United Federation of Nations, but it is also regarded as one of the best trained.
A volunteer-only force and proud of it, the Royal Army has a long and serried history. Often without the numbers of other armed forces, it has often relied on superior training and technology to make up for any disparity in numbers. That still holds true today, and the Royal Army still holds its own in the annual wargames with UFN members.
The old adage of William Churchill that the 'British Army was a projectile to be fired by the British Navy' still applies in the combat doctrine of the Albion Kingdom. Supported by both the RAF and the Royal Navy, the Royal Army has a reputation for careful planning and precise actions, as well as high mobility. Army officers are regarded as experts in the field of combined operations coordination, and in orbital bombardment triangulation, a still hazardous venture.
The Army is more often used as a defensive rather than offensive military arm by the Albion Kingdom given its small size. Generally it has been reserved as a dedicated strike force in Federation operations, in a supporting role for the larger armies of the other members of the Federation. It is still regarded, however, as a brave and effective fighting force by both people and Parliament in the Albion Kingdom and across the greater United Federation of Nations.
Religion
Religion is still strong within the Albion Kingdom, with religious attendance standing at about 32% and private religious belief standing at nearly 73%. Discrimination on the basis of religious belief or race is highly discouraged in the Albion Kingdom.
"No one wounds me with impunity"
Type
Geopolitical, Kingdom
Alternative Names
British Isles
Training Level
Elite
Veterancy Level
Decorated/Honored
Demonym
Albion
Leader
Head of State
Head of Government
Government System
Monarchy, Constitutional
Power Structure
Semi-autonomous area
Economic System
Market economy
Currency
Credit Standard
Parent Organization
Official Languages
Neighboring Nations
Notable Members
Comments