Stellar Monarchist League
"For every monarchy overthrown the sky becomes less brilliant, because it loses a star. A republic is ugliness set free."The Stellar Monarchist League is a colony funding organization comprised of the last remaining royal and noble families of Earth. Their goal is the preservation and proliferation of monarchy as a political system by seeding the galaxy with colonies under monarchal rule. With the destruction on Earth caused by the Yellowstone Supervolcano, the League lives on predominantly through its far flung colonies.
History
Ever since the downfall of most of Earth's monarchies in the 19th and 20th centuries, monarchists have advocated for a restoration of royalty and nobility. Largely discredited and disorganized, monarchists came back into mainstream discussion during the horrific human rights abuses at the height of corporate power in the 26th century. When interstellar colonization began in the 27th century, monarchists were well positioned to push for monarchal colonial charters.Fight Against Corporate Power and Creation of the League
“Where men are forbidden to honour a King they honour millionaires, athletes, or film-stars instead: even famous prostitutes or gangsters. For spiritual nature, like bodily nature, will be served; deny it food and it will gobble poison.”In the 26th Century, the power of transnational corporations had reached its zenith. Although Mars had won its independence, the belt colonies of Flora, Eunoma, Koronis, Eos, and Themis were brutally oppressed. Air and water was commodified, working conditions inhumane, and the populace lived under constant surveillance. Labor movements were met with widespread murder and rape, while defeated freedom fighters often had their entire space habitats depressurized. Many throughout the Sol system were horrified and begged their elected leaders to intervene. Sadly, over the past few centuries corporate donations had cemented themselves as part of the democratic process. The belt colonies were on their own. In 2532, King Zakwan II of Morocco held a hearing to investigate complaints by Moroccan citizens of human rights abuses in the Belt colonies. Appalled by what he heard, he pressured the UN to deploy peacekeeping forces to the region. Although this proposal failed, Zakwan II was able to create a coalition of wealthy individuals (most of them nobles like Queen Freja of Sweden and Prince Gérard of Monaco) to pressure countries on Earth to investigate and punish these abuses. In the wake of transnational loans being nationalized, anti-trust regulation, and jail time for transnational employees the UN was able to send a peacekeeping force in 2541. Eventually the UN forces would watch over the creation of the Confederated Belt Colonies. Emboldened by this success, many of Earth's surviving noble households began to publicly support reform movements across the Sol System. When technological breakthroughs in 2598 made interstellar colonization feasible, the loose coalition of noble houses created during the anti-transnational era made their move. Sebastian von Hapsburg, head of the House of Hapsburg, announced the creation of the Stellar Monarchist League. This new organization consolidated many of the space industries owned by noble houses and provided funding for colonial expeditions with the requirement that they adopt constitutional monarchies under the leadership of a new monarch chosen from among the old noble houses.
Structure
The Stellar Monarchist League has two branches, Colonial and Solar.Colonial
The Colonial Branch of the Stellar Monarchist League is made up of the interstellar colonial expeditions that left the Sol System. Each is managed by a cadet branch of a historic royal or noble house.Solar
The Solar Branch of the Stellar Monarchist League is made up of the corporations that build and supply the Colonial Branches expeditions. These produce ships, food, medicine, and tools (theoretically) necessary for life on other planets while keeping the money largely "inside the family". This branch also controls the trust funds set aside for future support to League colonies.League Benefits
Peace and Cooperation Treaty
While League member colonies are expected to be isolated for potentially hundreds of years, it is also expected that humanity will eventually re-establish contact between its far flung communities. Within this context, many of Sol's great thinkers during the The Second Enlightenment theorized that faster interstellar travel and normalized relations between star nations would be the catalyst for a new age of intrigue and exploitation. Ideally, League member colonies would be knit by a treaty of non-aggression and economic cooperation, providing stability in a time of uncertainty.Discount Colonial Supplies
Preparing a colonial expedition could be expensive. Fortunately, League members had access to discounted prices from corporations owned by the Solar branch of the League. This could reduce the total cost of the expedition by 20%-30%.Wide Reaching Recruitment Tools
With billions of humans spread out across the Sol System, finding quality colonists was a daunting task for colonial expeditions. The Solar branch of the League provided one of the farthest reaching recruitment platforms, from Earth to the farthest belt colony. This database was provided free of charge to League members.Sol Based Trust Funds
No one quite knows how technology will develop in the future, or what the needs of humanity's far flung colonies will be. With that in mind, a portion of the application fee paid by each colonist was invested in League trust funds. This fund was meant to fund the transport of follow-up colonists and technology once contact was re-established.League Requirements
Constitutional Monarchy
We should all bear carefully in mind the constitutional safeguards inherent in the monarchy: While The Queen occupies the highest office of state, no one can take over the government. While she is head of the law, no politician can take over the courts. While she is ultimately in command of the Armed Forces, no would-be dictator can take over the Army. The Queen’s only power, in short, is to deny power to anyone else. Any attempt to tamper with the royal prerogative must be firmly resisted.After centuries of corporate abuses in the space age, many potential colonists were very concerned about being trapped in systems of an absolute tyrant. In answer to this, each League Member was required to have both a House of Commons and House of Lords. While the particulars of their role in government was determined by each League member separately, power was often centered in the House of Commons, with the House of Lords meant to provide a stabling influence in the face of populism. The powers of the Monarch were clearly defined, with some being:
- The power to dissolve parliament and call for new elections
- The power to audit any branch of government
- The power to audit any business or corporation
- The power to break up large corporations
- The power to award lands and titles
- The power to remove lands and titles
- The power of pardon
- The power to establish investigations into crimes or issues facing the realm
- The power to veto legislation
- The power to veto mergers between corporations
- The power to dissolve public unions (police, teacher, etc) if they impair the general welfare
Peace and Cooperation Treaty
Although it only requires non-aggression pacts between league members, the treaty also includes optional frameworks for anti-piracy organizations and guides for standardized banking practices. At its heart, the treaty represents a commitment by League members to not conquer one another once contact has been re-established.Standardization of Noble Ranks
While each League member is allowed to name its ranks of nobility how they please, they must stick within the 10 rank framework of the League. The standard ranks, from highest to lowest are:- King
- Archduke
- Duke
- Marquess
- Earl
- Count
- Viscount
- Baron
- Knight
- Esquire
Stellar Monarchist League Charter of Human Rights
I consider tolerance as one of the ruler’s first duties. I have always tried to be tolerant and to respect and treat with consideration all kinds of religious beliefs. In this respect the ruler must not permit any discrimination. During my long reign in Bulgaria there was no persecution of those belonging to another faith, of Mohammedans or Jews. Had there been any I would have punished those responsible with the greatest severity.Based heavily on the UN's Universal Declaration of Human Rights and mindful of the abuses suffered in the belt colonies, the League's Charter included many of the ideas advocated for during The Second Enlightenment. These included:
- Air
- Water
- Housing, to be provided by the liege lord
- Healthcare, to be provided by the liege lord
Abandoning Claims to Earthly Titles
Upon arriving in their new home, monarchs in charge of League colonial expeditions established a new House; thereby abandoning all claims to their dynasty's historic titles and lands. This was meant to prevent League members returning to Earth in the future, using their dynasty's history as legal authority to conquer.Appeal to Colonists
Legacy
For many, space colonization was a chance to regain a sense of national, cultural, and ethnic pride they felt had been lost through centuries of globalization. Dynasties like the Austrian Hapsburgs, the Quing House of Aisin Gioro, and the Tongan House of Tupou were able to strongly recruit from their related geographic regions on Earth.Affordability
Heavily subsidized by the dynastic fortunes of League royals and discounted supplies through the League's Solar branch, the price of passage for each colonist was substantially lower compared to other colonial expeditions. This lower barrier to entry made League expeditions popular among colonists who otherwise would never be able to afford it.Opportunity
Colonial expeditions require large amounts of money and technical skill. In return for paying additional money or by filling critical skill slots, individuals would be awarded with ranks of nobility and land grants in their future home in proportion to their contributions.
Known Star Nations in the League:
Dynasties who have established colonies through the League:
- Albion
- Eiennohana
- Canzuck
- Alaouite dynasty
- Bendahara dynasty
- Chakri dynasty
- House of Aisin Gioro
- House of Belgium
- House of Bernadotte
- House of Bolkiah
- House of Borbón-Anjou
- House of Braganza
- House of Dlamini
- House of Grimaldi
- House of Hapsburg
- House of Hashim
- House of Hohenzollern
- House of Khalifa
- House of Liechtenstein
- House of Luxembourg-Nassau
- House of Moshesh
- House of Nahyan
- House of Norodom
- House of Orange-Nassau
- House of Orléans
- House of Orléans-Braganza
- House of Osman
- House of Sabah
- House of Said
- House of Saud
- House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg
- House of Thani
- House of Tupou
- House of Wangchuck
- House of Windsor
- House of Wittelsbach
- Imperial House of Japan
- Solomonic dynasty
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