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!"

-- Charles zi Britannia

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).

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.

East Huffman Island

See the page on Huffman Island for more information on Huffman Island.

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 - Southern Japan. Integration is ongoing.
• Area 12 - Taribia. After a recent, unsuccessful uprising, Taribia has had its colonial status reset entirely, with all current residents becoming Twelves.