Solarian League | |
Form of Government | Confederation |
Official language | Standard English |
Home Planet | Earth |
Capital | Chicago |
Head of State | President of the League |
Head of Government | Prime Minister |
Senior Military Commander | Chief of Naval Operations |
Executive Branch | Executive Council |
Legislative Branch | League Assembly |
Military | Solarian Gendarmerie Solarian League Marine Corps Solarian League Navy |
Founded | 1165 PD |
Currency | Solarian credit |
The Solarian League was the largest, wealthiest, and most powerful star nation in existence in the 20th Century PD, consisting of Earth itself and thousands of colonies surrounding the Sol System.
The term "Solly" was often used to describe persons, objects or concepts associated with the League.
Star geography[]
With over 2,000 member and protected worlds in the 20th Century PD, the Solarian League extended in a radius of about 100 light years around the Sol System. (CS1)
- See here for a list of Solarian systems
History[]
The Solarian League was founded in July 1165 PD[1]. (HH14)
Government[]
The Solarian League acted as a confederation. The League Assembly was the legislative branch of its government, while the Executive Council, as the name implied, was the executive branch. All members were given equal representation, and every member had veto power.
Predictably, very little in terms of clear legislation or policy was set in the League. Most of the work was done by the various sprawling government bureaucracies and corporations.
The executive branch was headed by a President, assisted by a Cabinet headed by the Prime Minister of the Solarian League. Due to the power structure of the League, the weakness of the central government, and the power of the League's bureaucracy, most of the ministerial positions had little actual power, with all major decisions being made by the senior bureaucrats in each ministry.
The most powerful bureaucrats, who actually ran the Solarian League, were the Permanent Senior Undersecretaries of Foreign Affairs, Interior, Education and Information, Treasury and Commerce.
Presidential and ministerial offices[]
1920s PD:
- President of the Solarian League - Kun Chol Yao
- Prime Minister of the Solarian League - Shona Gyulay
- Minister of the Treasury
- Foreign Minister - Marcelito Roelas y Valiente
- Minister of Defense - Kunimichi Taketomo
- Minister of the Interior - Jacinta Da Orta e Diadoro
- Minister of Protectorate Affairs[2]
- Minister of Commerce
- Minister of Education and Information
- Attorney General of the Solarian League - Brangwen Ronayne
Senior bureaucratic offices[]
1920s PD:
- Permanent Senior Undersecretary for Foreign Affairs — Innokentiy Kolokoltsov
- Permanent Senior Undersecretary of the Interior — Nathan MacArtney
- Permanent Senior Undersecretary of the Treasury — Agatá Wodoslawski
- Permanent Senior Undersecretary of Commerce — Omosupe Quartermain
- Permanent Senior Undersecretary of Education and Information — Malachai Abruzzi
- Chief of Naval Operations — Fleet Admiral Rajampet Rajani
Territory[]
Members[]
There were 1,784 planets that held League membership, spread over the core systems, also called the Old League, and the Shell. (CS1)
The inner systems, or Core worlds, were the first hundred or so colonies settled from Earth and many of them had populations larger than ten billion.
Protectorates[]
The Solarian League possessed more than 200 protectorates. They were former Verge worlds who had generally come under administration of the Office of Frontier Security.[3] Technically protectorates weren't member states, thus - part of the League territory. In 1922 PD, in accordance with the League's surrender terms with the Grand Alliance, both the Office of Frontier Security and its system of protectorates were dissolved with the former protectorates reverting to local autonomy. (CS1,HH14)
Population[]
The total population of the League was unknown, but a census at the beginning of the 20th Century PD, which was widely acknowledged to be extremely incomplete and to seriously understate the true numbers, put the population at about three trillion, not including Protectorates worlds. (CS1)
Society and Culture[]
Given the huge number of worlds that composed the Solarian League, there was a wide variety of outlooks, beliefs, and cultures. There were, however, a couple of common threads.
The longest settled or more insulated planets of the League would best be described as self-absorbed; they did not care much about the happenings of anything outside the borders. There was a sense that the League was the shining pinnacle of humanity, and anyone not in it was subordinate to them at best, barbarians at worst.
Secondly, planets that were acquired through the Office of Frontier Security were often exploited, sometimes brutally. (SI1, CS1)
Economy[]
By the 20th Century PD, the League's industrial capability equaled that of the rest of the human-inhabited systems in the galaxy combined. (HH7)
Seventy percent of all federal revenue derived from shipping duties and tariffs. The other thirty percent derived primarily from protectorate service fees. The League did not levy any direct taxes on member worlds. (HH13)
The Solarian credit was the standard currency in the League. (CS1)
Military[]
The Solarian League had by far the largest navy in the known galaxy, dwarfing the combined navies of both the Star Kingdom of Manticore and the Republic of Haven. However, by the 20th Century PD, the primary function of the Solarian League Navy was commerce protection and colonial pacification. As such, SLN vessels were far less technologically advanced than those of the Royal Manticoran Navy or even the Republic of Haven Navy. Estimates placed most classes of SLN vessels some fifty T-years behind a nominally equivalent Manticoran naval vessel. Battle Fleet was more prestigious, had all of the ships of the wall, and was farther behind modern standards than even Frontier Fleet, which was more active and saw some action, though even it had not fought comparable forces in centuries by the time of the Haven-Manticore Wars. (infodump)
References[]
External links[]
- The Universe of Honor Harrington by David Weber