The Iron Union

"Despite possibly being the first civilization, the iron union is also the most consistently modern one. Other civilizations make great efforts preserving and polishing their culture to be remembered by those of the future. The Iron Union understands that preserving culture to make a mark on history is done because they are expected to fall one day, which the iron union sees as fatalistic if not nihilistic. The iron union is only focused on what is to come, advancing technology with greater vigor than other civilizations no matter the cost. And as their bloody revolution in the past shows, the future holds no king or emperor." - Hitchhiker's guide to Jeslorian factions

Structure

Despite boasting pretty much everywhere that in the eyes of the union and revolution everyone is equal, there is still a very clear hierarchy of power within the iron union. At the very top is the general secretary of the socialist worker's party, who has dictatorial power. They generally serve however long they like and have a strong hand in choosing who takes their place, although candidates are usually presented by members of the cabinet. Still, the general secretary can nominate their own protege as a candidate for general secretary. General secretaries are put into power through a rudimentary election system that has little to no impact on who actually gets put into power. That decision is either made by the general secretary of the socialist worker's party or members of the cabinet should the general secretary be in no shape to rule.
There are also the members of the cabinet who are seen as on the same level as any government office worker. Though higher than the lowest class, these are mostly people doing busy work or administration work. Their duties aren't as impactful as that of the general secretary.
On the bottom of the hierarchy are the so-called Ратник (Ratnik meaning "driving force" in the majolkkrat language). This encompasses anything from the most prestigious soldier to the lowest peasant. All these people are seen as equal below the government.

Culture

The Iron Union has no interest in preserving its own culture, only advancing its technological prowess and power in the world. As such, there are very few musea, and what little artworks are made are typically glorifying the government. In the name of progress, the iron union has burned any relics of its pre-revolution monarchy era, which had a very solid cultural sector. Even their religion was burned alongside the thousands of books written by ancient majolkkrat poets as they were seen as perverse products of indulgence written by a rich upper class that benefited from exploiting the workers. If anything, the iron union is perceived by other civilizations as an industrial culture, as it takes great pride in its immense industrial capabilities. A factory worker is the model citizen of the iron union.
The Iron Union only believes in 3 things: Communism, Production, and progress. Moreover, it consistently denounces capitalism, which explains their violent history with the dwarves. This does not mean that the iron union won't participate in globalism and capitalism to strengthen its own position. Throughout history, they are well known for the ore monopoly they established which would force the Dracholmian union to turn a blind eye to any war crimes they committed against the dwarves.

Public Agenda

Among many other things, the iron union is concerned with upholding law and order within union territories. They obviously want to keep the working class happy and fanatic to their cause but also want to attack ideologies they view as dangerous on their doorstep. This explains the long subterranean war they waged against the dwarves, which ended with dwarves being pushed out of the underground cave systems. Lastly, one of their most important policies is to push the advance of technology forward as hard as they can. The iron union views science as its most important asset, particularly weapons research.

Assets

The iron union has mostly abolished private ownership, any utilities from lampshades to electronics are manufactured and dispensed by the government itself. They have their own currency but it is only used by the lower class to incentivize them to work hard and thus pay the bills and keep food on the shelves. Despite the occasional confrontation with how unfair life under the iron union is, the citizens have a deep, unwavering loyalty to their government and are more than willing to defend it.
More interestingly, the iron union has one of the most powerful militaries on Jeslore. They have aptly been titled the iron legion, who, true to their name are resilient, disciplined, and possess unbreakable morale and loyalty. They are well known for being ruthless and merciless, steamrolling straight through enemy and civilian alike. They are also well known for having a complete disregard for any sort of war etiquette, but due to the influence the iron union has, the iron legion very rarely gets actually punished for the crimes they commit. The iron legion is essentially the pay-off to the iron union's dedication to science. They were the first to use guns, the first to use tanks, the first to use radar technology, the first with a military airforce, the first to use power armor, and the first to use energy weaponry. Every bit of modern military technology has typically been used by the iron legion first.

Technological Level

The iron union is generally at the front of Jeslore's science race. They have the most advanced military equipment, civilian logistics, and some of the best medicine of the realm. Their biggest weakness was that they lost the space race, which would ultimately come back to haunt them as the colonization of other planets broke dracholmian reliance on the ore of the iron union. Still, any piece of technology, both military and civilian that seems ever-present in Jeslorian society and culture was likely invented by the iron union.
Any sort of military technology was likely invented by the Iron Union, in fact, for most of history, it seemed as if the iron union was one step ahead of the dracholmian union up until they signed a treaty with the stranded Cykx on Jeslore. To give a few examples: By the time the dracholmian union began using muskets and renaissance technology, the iron union had already begun using primitive morse code radios and were beginning to use tanks. By the time the Dracholmian Union began using bolt action rifles and technology generally associated with world war 1, the iron union had already invented gas-powered automatic weaponry that's generally associated with the Vietnam war and the atomic era. And when the Dracholmian Union finally got to that technological weaponry shortly after signing a treaty with the Cykx they began to catch up but were still lagging behind as the iron union had begun using polyester and plastic weaponry associated with the information era. 
When the Dracholmian Union finally caught up with the Iron Union, it kicked off an arms race of sorts similar to the cold war on earth. The Iron Union lost this arms race because they made 2 fatal errors all sourced in their line of play: The Iron Union focused itself on improving weapon technology to scare their enemy and maintain a technological advantage in case a war did break out. They completely neglected technology related to civilian amenities. While the iron union had extremely advanced weaponry that could potentially trounce the Dracholmian union, their civilians had no purpose other than work. The Dracholmian union on the other hand invented more advanced radios and shortly after TVs which opened up the way for computers and the internet with social media and more. The Iron Union's lack of culture had finally come back to bite them as the happy-go-lucky lifestyle of Dracholmian civilians looked appealing to Iron Union civilians and for the first time in history they began to lose their precious scientists to an enemy.
Secondly, their laser focusing on weapon technology meant they didn't invest as much energy as the Dracholmian union in rocketry. Not only did planetary colonization render the raw material monopoly the iron union had established completely defunct, it also allowed the sister government group of the dracholmian union to trade technologies with other galactic factions as well as establish massive scientific sectors on newly colonized planets. Free of the one thing the Iron Union had left to keep them contained, the iron union now had to rely on sheer numbers and its own military strength to defend against the Dracholmian Union.

Foreign Relations

• DECTA - The Iron Union's monopoly on ore means the Dracholmian union is completely reliant on the iron union's willingness to trade with them to run their own economy, especially during times of war. They officially have a military and economic alliance but Dracholmian public opinion of the Iron Union is through the floor. On top of that, the Dracholmian Union does not approve of the Iron Union's attempts to nudge smaller nations into the direction of communism by forceful or semi-forceful means. They also hate the power the iron union has over them, crippling their ability to hold them responsible for their war crimes.
• Dwarven Presidential States - As very convinced, hardline capitalists, the dwarven presidential states were long seen as the main enemy to the iron union. They have been at war for ages until they were pushed to the surface and even during this fragile peace, the iron union is not shy of attacking dwarven soldiers and civilians alike that for any business find themselves underground. Settlements near exits are also frequently attacked and as outward hostilities died down, skirmishes between the iron legion and the dwarven military still continued.
• Joint Empire Alliance - Despite the fact that the Chev'ronian goblins are also communists, who the iron legion generally find agreeable, they find to their dismay that the ones in charge of the alliance are foolish. Dusk elves and the iron legion could not be further apart. For one, the dusk elves deeply value their culture and religion, something the iron union very willingly neglects. The Iron Union has insurmountable ideological differences with the dusk elves and thus remains on very poor terms with the alliance as a whole.
• Republic of Ancient Races - The Iron Union hates the RAR for its racial hierarchy, even if they were fairly high on it. They have officially denounced them as tyrants and are taking any action they can to strangle the republic.
• Cavestar Collective - The cave star collective is a syndicalistic organization that seeks to free the working class from the iron union's oppressive regime. They are sworn enemies that fight each other at every turn.

Education

Education is not only free but also quite good within the iron union. The iron union values its scientists and thus offers great educational options to help the union advance scientifically. It does come at a price: education under the iron union is education as much as it is indoctrination. Unsurprisingly students are not taught about the atrocities that the iron legion has committed. In fact, any war crimes committed by the iron legion are rewritten as acts of heroism. They are also taught about the many evolves that lurk above ground and the importance of defending against them.

War Crimes

• Conscription - Under the Kitzbach convention, compulsory military service is not allowed.
• Violation of the 3rd decree of the Kitzbach convention - It is a severe war crime to kill enemy medical personnel, something the Iron Union did on occasion.
• Mass murder - It is very well documented that the Iron Union has no problem targeting unarmed civilians to cripple those at the top.
• Censorship - The Iron Union controlled the media and would censor facts. Criticism against the general secretary too is heavily frowned upon and can even carry jail sentences.
• Abusive conquering - The regimes installed by the iron union in occupied territories were highly oppressive and would harshly punish anyone that spoke out against them.
• Diplomatic Liability - The Iron Union frequently failed to deliver what was expected of them from their allies.
• Erasure - The removal of buildings or monuments with religious/cultural/historical significance

Note: The iron union is not found guilty of abuse of prisoners for the simple reason they did not take any prisoners.
Designated Status: Opportunistic Threat
Status Meaning: The Kitzbach convention has denounced the Iron Union as an opportunistic threat that will casually commit war crimes whenever it can be played off as morally justifiable. It's well known that the Iron Union will kill civilians if they get in the way and consistently fail to arrest soldiers that are surrendering. Moreover, the Iron Union will demand to be put in charge of conquered territory for safekeeping and then refuse to rescind control. They will seize any opportunity to further their own desires, preferably when they can be justified. Despîte everything, the iron union is not seen as cruel but rather overly pragmatic. Most of their war crimes stem from their sentiment that there is no such thing as overkill.

Instances of war crimes

The 3 most notable instances of war crimes for the Iron Union are:
The Napalm Bombing of the Imperial industrial zone - One of their most shocking acts of excessive force. In 1985, a few months before the fall of the imperial capital, the allied forces had made it to the industrial zones surrounding the capital. Faced with the moral challenge of having to advance and possibly fight civilians slowed down the advance of the drosden fleet, the dracholmian union, and RAR, who were planning to dig in and evacuate civilians before advancing through the heartland to the capital. It was not to be as the Iron Union demanded to be put in control of clearing a path and this demand was reluctantly given the green light. The Iron Union then began a merciless bombing campaign of the industrial zone.
In complete defiance of the wishes of their allies, the Iron Union consciously tried to rack up an absurd civilian death toll to scare workers into defecting. Their strategy was to open their attack using regular bombs with the intent of destroying bridges, escape routes and cover to make way for an immense napalm bombing campaign that wreaked havoc on the confused and exposed civilians. With over 76% of available cover destroyed and all means of escape gone, the iron union napalm bombing campaign successfully annihilated over 93% of the population in the largest industrial sector and utterly obliterated any means of production. They succeeded in scaring civilians away from manufacturing arms for the empire and utterly crippled the Imperial war production.
This was the most controversial bombing raid in Jeslorian history, as the Iron Union did not simply blow up imperial civilians but also their captives and their own spies and saboteurs.
The Iron Occupations - Following the defeat of the empire, its territory was divided between the 4 victorious armies. The Republic of Ancient Races received control of goblin territories, which had been left mostly untouched due to their placement behind imperial cities but were still bombed. The Drosden Fleet was given control over the territories that the empire had taken over such as the sunset isles. The Dracholmian union took control over the former imperial lands as they were seen as the leading voice of the war, and the Iron Union received control over the Veer Orcen lands as well as the Chev'ronian human lands. These occupations were only put in place to help the nations recover from the destruction that the war had brought about, and they all agreed to pull out once the damage had been repaired.
During these occupations, the Dracholmian Union had agreed to give the Iron Union all imperial territory except for the capital so it could fully concentrate its strength on taking out the vanguard which had become a full threat in the meantime. Unsurprisingly, the Iron Union had no intention to ever pull out of the region and only reinforced its strength. In blatant violation of the war recovery agreement, the iron union refused to withdraw troops from its occupied territories when others, including the pirates, left their respective occupied territories. In fact, they strengthened their control over these territories and escalated punishments against those who spoke out against them. They also committed the erasure war crime as they punished dissent by destroying Imperial cathedrals and churches.
The atrocities against the dwarves - While these are only recorded by the dwarves and are difficult to verify, the well-recorded habit that the Iron Union has to deny war crimes combined with their general track record convinces historians to believe that these are true. Allegedly, during the subterranean war between the dwarven states and the iron union, the iron union would ruthlessly slaughter civilians if they failed to move out of their villages on time or if the dwarven military failed to defend them for long enough. The Majolkkrat claim that they kept civilian casualties to a minimum and it is confirmed that they did consistently warn the dwarves that if they did not move out of the underground regions, civilians would get hurt.
It is however accepted that a warning and a notification that the Iron Union planned to invade all of Dwarven territory hardly serves as a justification for the deaths of an unknown amount of innocent civilians. This is simply another example that to the iron union, there is no such thing as overkill. The Iron Union saw themselves as rulers of the underground and they would trample anything and anyone getting in their way.

The future is red and holds no kings or emperors.

1200 BGU - 3289 AGU

Type

Geopolitical, Republic

Capital

Milongrad

Alternative Names

The United Communist Republic of the Proletariat (UCRP)

Demonym

Communists/Tankies (usually perjorative)

Leader Title

General Secretary of the U.C.R.P

Head of State

The Socialist Worker's Party

Government System

Dictatorship

Power Structure

Transnational government

Economic System

Command/Planned economy

Major Exports

The iron union is fully self-sufficient but knows that an organized declaration of war could very swiftly put an end to their project so they trade with the second most powerful federation, not for economic reasons but to maintain a solid level of control. They are the ones controlling all the ore and will trade it mostly to establish that they can take it away just as quickly. They not only get materials hard to come by underground but also are turned a blind eye whenever they commit another atrocity.

Subsidiary Organizations

• The Iron Legion

Location

Milongrad

Official Languages

• Classical Subterranean

Neighboring Nations

• The Dwarven Presidential States

Related Historical Events

• 1230 AGW
  Operation sunrise

Political Ideology
Communism

Alignment:
Neutral Evil
Power Type:
Technological/Military
Military Expertise:
Expeditionary-Force/Heavy Infantry

Theme