The Martian Colonial States

Political event

The early Martian colonies are a success. They are mostly self-sufficient, and they are spreading. For the most part, immigration to the colonies is controlled by the Earthly government that created them. But already, this is becoming untenable. Earth's Governments can barely control their own lands, let alone another world. People are not thing arriving on Mars, as they bring with them their own ideas and opinions on how a state should be run.   Over a three year period, the majority of Martian colonies are transitioning towards new identities and new politics.

Starting in 2069, a great transition began to take hold in Martian society. Early colonies were still tied to their founding Earthly nation, but these links are tenuous at best. The colonies have been prioritising their own self-sufficiency, and are able to create food, water, and energy, thanks to recent advances in power generation and battery capacity. But beyond that, the Martians are starting to realise how bad things really were on Earth, and their potential to create a newer, better world for Humans on Mars. With more people arriving from Earth, they brought with them their cultures and their politics, which began to diverge into newer Martian identities.   Most importantly, it became clear that Earth could barely look after itself, let alone Mars. When the authoritarian nations of Earth settled on Mars, they brought with them a population of loyal, conservative, and militarist peoples, believing they would remain loyal to their original government. With new arrivals bringing increasingly worse news from Earth, these people were terrified. In this terror, this fear of abandonment, and fear of weakness, something dark began to fester. They rallied around a unified Martian identity, one that valued militarism and authoritarianism as the guiding principals of Mars. They called themselves the Aresians, and they soon hijacked the very concept of a united Martian identity, a topic that is still extremely controversial and dangerously opposed well into the modern day.   Aresians were not the only Martian identity to arise out of this period. Many smaller, regional identities began to develop around colonial hubs and settlements, and their traditions thrive across the planet. While Aresians were not the only ones calling for a united Martian identity, they were the loudest and the most violent. States that considered themselves Aresian tended towards developing authoritarian systems of government, developing the first Martian Armies, and forcing smaller colonies to band together in Federations and Confederations.   By 2072, Mars is rapidly becoming a mess of states and polities, with tenuous ties to Earth. Martian Independence is now a question of when, not if.