Britannian Union

"We fight, we compete; evolution is continuous! Britannia alone moves forward; advancing steadily into the future. ... We will fight on, we shall struggle, compete, plunder, and dominate and in the end the future shall be ours!"

The Britannian Union of Solar Energy

The Britannian Union of Solar Energy consists of both "New World" landmasses, the British Isles other than the land that constitutes Britain in the real world, Euro Britannia (a client state situated primarily in what would today be known as Turkey and Iraq), and the majority of holdings attached to the Orbital Elevator system. Prior to the One Year War, the Union was the largest voice within the Federation, bankrolling the entirety of its own Orbital Elevator and owning partial stakes in the others; it has also taken the brunt of spacenoid damage to the Earth, extracting heavy reparations from Zeon and even from other Earthnoid nations for this. Arguably, it still is the largest voice within the Federation; it is certainly the loudest.

Rather than rebuild the Americas after the One Year War, it took the money from those post-war reparations and moved many of its upper-middle-class and wealthy civilians into new habitations anchored to the Orbital Ring -- the so-called "Neo Colonies," boutique projects with outlandish shapes. Any wealthy Union citizen on Earth probably lives in the BU capital of Pendragon, in California, though the greater Nashville metropolitan area is also quite populous.

The Britannian Union also trends belligerent, bullying other Federation nations and even invading when the political situation allows. Invaded areas that stay under Britannian control become Areas -- stripped of their former cultural and political identity, reduced to a number.

Union holdings on Earth, save for a handful of large metropolitan areas, tend to be poverty-stricken, high-density habitations separated by large swaths of utterly nonfunctional wasteland. The Union does use Earth for military logistics, however; it formerly hosted the Federation's Jaburo base, and the Federation's current military headquarters, JOSH-A, also sits in Union territory.

It was the Union that advocated for both the Gundam Fight and the clauses that stipulated that the Earth is the ring. Union nations have won half of all Gundam Fights. It is speculated that these victories were what allowed these nations to funnel resources to their primary Neo Colony to escape Earth entirely.

During the pre-Federation era, Japan and the nations that became the Union were quite close. More recently, the Union took control of the southern half of Japan. As a result, there are still many ethnic Japanese in Union territory, especially in North America, Brazil, and the Neo Colonies (and of course, Area 11).

Political Situation

Those living on Earth in Areas under the Britannian Union of Solar Energy are usually struggling, and usually quite mad about it. The last two decades have seen considerable swaths of Union territory destroyed, and the money earmarked to rehabilitate it 'reinvested' in the Neo Colonies instead… in turn financing the escape of most of the richest people.

Some, of course, turn to spacism; garden-variety spacism comes in the form of hating colonists for destroying Earth's productivity, beauty, and ability to support life. Others direct their anger at the Neo Colonists for plundering both Earth and space with little care for anyone but themselves. This anger has recently been pointed at the PLANTs, with some success; the Union is the most enthusiastic about fighting the Bloody Valentine Conflict of all Federation blocs.

The primary political argument among wealthy Britannians at the moment, meanwhile, is whether conquered nations should be allowed to integrate at all. The Britannian wing of Blue Cosmos, a powerful lobbying organization associated with the National Industrial Alliance political party, takes a 'purist' view that only full-blooded Britannians should be allowed to join the military or otherwise integrate into society. This stance is unique to the Britannian component of the organization, but given the Britannian component is the largest, this distinction is mostly academic.

Area 11

Area 11, the region of Japan southwest of Yokohama, is a Union holding, with all that entails. The Union has wasted no time in aggressively shaking up its culture, though there has been a long chain of bloody conflicts in the region that have slowed the process. The previous viceroy in charge of the region, Clovis la Britannia, turned up dead under mysterious circumstances in early 0096. Leadership has moved to his sister, Cornelia li Britannia.

Holdings

New Britannian Continent

The New Britannian Continent as an individual nation, rather than the broader Britannian Union of Solar Energy, occupies most of the space presently occupied by North and South America, though "Britannia" usually refers specifically to the United States, southern Canada, and Baja California. In this world, the United States never gained independence from Britain, and was used as a safe harbor by British nobility during Napoleonic conquest of Europe. This New World holding was rechristened Britannia.

As more and more nations in the New World fell to Britannian conquest in the 2100s, these holdings were dubbed the "New Britannian Continent," and subsequently, the Britannian Union of Solar Energy. "America" and "The Americas" are archaic terms for the landmass (and memorialized in the name of the Neo America Orbital Ring holding -- ironically not held by Britannia).

Britannia is a monarchist nation with a bicameral legislature. The Emperor sets virtually all major foreign policy goals and standards, but the House of Lords and the Senate are hardly powerless; on domestic issues, Britannians are in fact fairly politically engaged.

Britannian Union Historic Kingdom

The Britannian Union Historic Kingdom comprises Ireland, Scotland, and Wales, but not Britain. These taken together hold a seat comparable to that of a New Britannian Continent state in the Britannian legislature, and are not treated as Areas. They are, however, largely abandoned by Britannian efforts at maintaining law and order; the isles have long been a soft target for those eager to make their displeasure with Britannia or the Federation known.

Euro Britannia

Euro Britannia comprises much of what today includes Turkey and Iraq. Euro Britannia is a Britannian Union tributary with a high degree of autonomy for a Union member nation. It maintains a semi-independent military force, albeit with a higher degree of automation. Euro Britannia is explicitly undemocratic, and is governed by a Grand Duke and a House of Lords consisting of descendants of British nobility.

The Area System

Areas are Britannian holdings acquired through conquest, or in disputed circumstances. Conquered peoples are referred to by the number of their conquered region, such as "Fours" or "Elevens," while first-generation Britannian citizens of these regions are referred to as "Honorary Britannians." Second-generation citizens and on become full Britannians. Areas include:

• Area 1 - Deprecated term for the western half of the Britannian mainland. No longer applies at all after the relocation of the capital to Pendragon in the 1900s.
• Area 2 - Canada. Semi-deprecated; Canada is in practice a fully-integrated territory, with only small handfuls of Number citizens, who overwhelmingly choose to self-segregate.
• Area 3 - Mexico. Semi-deprecated for the same reasons as Canada.
• Area 4 - Cuba. Cuba has stubbornly resisted full integration with Britannia.
• Area 5 - Non-Cuban Atlantic Ocean holdings, taken together. Mostly deprecated.
• Area 6 - Most of South America. Integration has met with mixed results.
• Area 7 - Deprecated term for Venezuela. Venezuela's populace solving a prior coup themselves earned the nation a blanket right to be treated as full Britannians.
• Area 8 - Huffman Island. Given Huffman Island is a recent formation without a conquered population, this is a proactive application in the event that Britannia takes the rest of the island.
• Area 9 - Greenland. Greenland had been a neutral state until the Impact Wars, so integration into Britannia is ongoing.
• Area 10 - Iceland. Iceland had been a neutral state until the Impact Wars, so integration into Britannia is ongoing.
• Area 11 - Southwestern Japan. Integration into Britannia is ongoing.
• Area 12 - Taribia. After a recent, unsuccessful uprising, Taribia has had its colonial status reset entirely, with all current residents becoming Twelves.

Taribia

Located between Venezuela and Guyana, Taribia is a small nation-state within the Britannian Union. Taribia is economically underdeveloped, and has become a hotbed of resistance to the Union after many anti-Britannian Venezuelans fled there after the coup and counter-coup of the Impact Wars. Taribia attempted secession in 0096, after Celestial Being made its presence known, hoping the rogue faction would defend it from Union counterinsurgency efforts. Instead, Celestial Being did massive damage to the separatist forces, forcing them to retract their declaration of independence.

Despite the optics of re-Numbering an area, however, this has actually brought Taribia closer to the Union rather than fomented unrest. The simple truth is that Taribia's tiny size means almost no one actually officially claims it as residence; while the human cost of this maneuver isn't zero, it's expected to lead to enormous economic and cultural spending that outstrips the size of the region.

Taribia has a severe drug trafficking problem, with its illicit economy outstripping many of its legal industries in size. Refrain, a drug which induces hallucinatory flashbacks, flows through the country in both directions.

Britannian Union PCs

Most player characters who are both from and loyal to the Britannian Union will be part of either the Britannian Union Forces, G-Hound, NERV, or Londo Bell factions, in roughly that order of commonality.