Earth-Mars Federation
The single most powerful government humanity has ever seen.
The Federation is the anonymous ruling hand of the human sphere . It´s a vast and sprawling democracy born out of the worst war in the history of mankind.
This article is about the Federation as a whole, you may be looking for Earth or MarsIn the human sphere , the solar system, the Federation is ever present. It is not an oppressive force to the average person, it supplies services and protection and lets the regions of Earth and Mars largely govern themselves. People on Earth and Mars (with some exceptions) are granted Federation citizenship as per the Treaty of Luna. Citizenship not only gives voting rights, but also certain services, like healthcare and education. Working for a Federation bureau is a respected and attainable goal and the Federation Space Navy is seen as a glamorous path to higher education and potentially status and power. But for those living in the myriad of space colonies spread throughout the solar system It's not as simple. The space colonies where never included in the Treaty of Luna and as such are not granted automatic citizenship in the Federation. Instead, space colonies differ from station to station. Some are, due to old allegiances and ownerships to and by the old nations of Earth and Mars, in all practical ways Federation core nations in space, and their populations are generally granted citizenship just like on Earth or Mars proper. On the other end of the spectrum are the industrial stations in the asteroid belt and around Jupiter and Saturn, seen by the Federation as little more than construction and mining outposts at the edge of civilizations, they rarely are granted citizenship in the Federation and yet are still vassals to the corporations and nations that are a core part of the Federation. With the vast majority of humanity now residing in space, the Federation has gone from representing all of humanity to being lead by the rich few lucky enough to have been born on Mars, Earth or one of their most prestigious space colonies. Tensions are high in the Federation, but the reclusive leadership of the High Senate has shown no sign of relinquishing power.
Structure
The Federation is a vast and sprawling bureaucracy with dozens of agencies and specialised departments handling everything from trade and taxation to research and military spending. At the top of the Federation hierarchy is the Presidents, followed closely by the Senate.
Traditionally the Federation has two Presidents, one from Earth and one from Mars, but only one holds the power at any given moment. During their 10 year term, the two Presidents will take turns, one handling Presidential duties whilst the other focuses on a more direct goal that the two commonly decide together with the Senate. This could be handling Earth local politics, or leading a larger development program.
Culture
The Federation, being a union of nations artificially formed to prevent large scale conflict, has no historical culture to lean back on. But the planets and colonies littering the human sphere have centuries, sometimes millenia of history that informs their present.
Earth
The nations of the Earth-Mars Federation retained much of their independence and so also their cultures. While none made it through the Calamity unscathed, a few nations didn´t make it at all. Large centers of military power were prime targets for asteroid strikes by Mars during the war, and so large parts of North America, central China and parts of Europe and the middle east were turned into desolate wastelands and ruined cities. The American government retreated into the Rocky mountains and consolidated their power with the quickly forming Earth defence forces, all while fighting civil unrest throughout North America. Meanwhile the remnants of China remodelled into a Pan-Asian Alliance, partially by diplomacy, partially by force. The Pan-Asian Alliance later became a cornerstone of the Earth side of the Federation and held much sway during the negotiations for the Treaty of Luna. These two superpowers changed the most in the years following the Calamity. The American block fell into a national depression, morning for the loss of almost half the country by territory and two thirds by population. This rebuilding of the country led both to increased reliance and trust of other Earth nations and a revival of what historians refer to as "Americana", a romanticizing of the old west, personal heroism and making something new from nothing. In the Pan-Asian Alliance, Chinese influence faded over the following generations as the Alliance inadvertently leveled the economic playing field in south-east asia and opened up for more equal trade, growth and education. While many millions can trace their origin to mainland china, nowadays most people would associate more with their cultural province than with "China", although being called or calling oneself Chinese to someone who would not recognize a province or city is still considered fair. While the borders of eastern asia have been the most fluid, their cultures have remained relatively intact. The official language of the Alliance is a creole of Chinese, Japanese and Indonesian, but local languages have largely remained in use. Most citizens are bi- or tri- lingual.Mars
While the many nations of Earth have changed in the last century to find ways to cope with the trauma of the Calamity War the people that changed the most are those on Mars. In the first years of the Calamity war the many colonies, city states and nations of Mars united under one flag. In a desperate attempt to strengthen the peoples will to fight the newly formed government of Mars launched a campaign to unite the different cultures of Mars´s more than hundred population centers. For generations, the cities of Mars had kept the traditions, art and language of the nations that had founded them all while morphing into something new. Most of Mars cities had developed a strong sense of loyalty, duty and self-sacrifice, grown out of harsh environment and the centuries long plan to terraform the red planet. The new wartime government of Mars leaned heavily into this and over the years a new Marsian culture has developed on the planet. English has been reinforced as the common language and an art culture loosely based on 20th century Euroasian socialism has replaced much of the variation of the old cities. Neo-brutalist architecture dominates the newer developments, but old earth inspired works can still be found in the old quarters.History
The Calamity War
To read more about this war, see the Calamity War article.At the end of the Calamity War, the armistice known as the Treaty of Luna ended the most devastating conflict to grace the human species by forming a new, united government from remnants of the nations of Earth and Mars. This was not easily accomplished and likely could not have been done where it not for the secret coups taking place on both Earth and Mars within weeks of each other, effectively replacing the stubborn war-footed leadership of both sides with politicians and officers tired of the war and ready for peace talks. The timing of these coups are largely attributed to the conspirators of both sides being horrified by the war. That the asteroid attacks on North America that destroyed most of the mid-western USA and the retaliatory nuclear devastation on the Martian Mariner Valley that destroyed 5 cities that followed happened only weeks before the first coup is pointed to by historians as direct proof that the conspirators felt forced to act to prevent the war from becoming an extinction event. Others attribute the timing of the switch in leadership of both sides to fate or simple dumb luck, while more Federation critical scholars suspect that it was a coordinated takeover, negotiated and planned ahead of time by influential people on both sides. Analysis and debate over what actually happened in the days leading up to the last days of the Calamity war eventually always end in the consensus that, whatever their motivations or the conspiracies taking place, the ending of the war was worth it, and all but the most anti-fed rebel would agree that the founding of the Earth-Mars Federation was more than preferable to the continuation of the war.
For all mankind
Founding Date
Year 0 DC
Type
Governmental, Senate/Parliament
Alternative Names
The Federation, EMF (Not used by civilian government anymore, still common on military equipment)
Leader
Controlled Territories
