Swabian League

Swabian League
Government Type: Limited Monarchy
Current Ruler: Kaiser Karl Friedrich Autenberg
History:

Founding 845 PD: Officially the Swabian League was founded with the treaty of Seta when the SCG council recognized the demand for independence filed by an alliance of systems that had been settled by people of Germanic heritage. In truth it’s more accurate to say that the League was formed in the 830s when the worlds that would make up the official League began drawing closer political ties based on their common heritage and that those of Germanic heritage were far from popular within the SCG council because of their refusal to fully abandon their own customs and traditions.

Swabian Expansion: With the treaty of Seta signed the League declared their first Kaiser Arnold Franz Holtzman as the leader of the League. The Kaisers have limited power however and require the vote and approval of the Bundesrat which has a representative from each world and orbital habitat within the League. Since its founding in 845 the League has established several colonies on worlds depopulated or evacuated thanks to the Foundation War seizing them before any other nation could intervene. The League has also expanded via conquering three neighboring system governments using the excuse that these Nations represented threats within the border of the League itself especially since they had refused trade and defense treaties with the League.

Present Day: The League today is one of the most powerful nations in the galaxy with a growing industrial powerbase as well as a rapidly growing and stabilizing economy. Although they are viewed with some suspicion by their weaker neighbors the truth is the League hasn’t made any active moves to absorb occupied territory in nearly ten years. The League uses their industrial might to produce large numbers of ships both military and civilian for purchase by other nations as well as private parties.

Culture: The culture of the League is made up almost entirely of people descended from the ancient German people of the Sol system although many cultural foibles have of course changed over the centuries. The League’s citizens are stoic, proud, independent and quiet preferring to let their actions speak for them. Politically speaking the League is generally not interested in close political ties with any other nations though they do have informal or casual trade relations with most of their neighbors along with providing large numbers of ships to order.

Military: The military forces of the League are split into two branches.

Sternenflotte: The Sternenflotte is responsible for all space based operations within the League and without. League ships tend to be constructed around modular designs that are meant to be overhauled and refitted to serve specific mission roles if necessary. The major exceptions to this philosophy come in the form of the Panzerschiff and battleship class vessels of the league. The Panzerschiff, often called a “pocket battleship” by other nations is an upsized cruiser class vessel outfitted with advanced reactors allowing it to have increased shield output as well as a battleship class ion lance battery.
Unlike the battlecruisers of other nations the Panzerschiff does not sacrifice armor or sublight speed but rather sacrifices strategic speed and range in the form of a greatly reduced jump drive and Quanzium 40 bunker. This trade off means that the Panzerschiff is able to keep up with most of its cruiser class prey while also being able to outrun full sized battleships in sub-light.
Doctrine: The Sternenflotte operates on a similar doctrine to the DSC wherein they localize their considerable forces into two primary fleets while having independent patrol squadrons keeping an eye on day to day operations. The large number of Panzerschiffs in the Sternenflotte allows them to deploy heavy patrol units while keeping the thirty-eight battleships of their capital fleet safely centralized in case of need.

Heer: The League Army or Heer is the land force of the League responsible for planetary warfare as well as providing contingents of soldiers for the ships of the Sternenflotte. The Heer is one of the smallest active planetary forces in the galaxy today focusing on individual soldier quality over quantity.
Doctrine: Unlike most nations the Heer does not have any permanent “space mobile” forces besides the contingents of troops provided to the Sternenflotte for security and assault operations. Instead each League world is required to maintain its own contingent of Heer soldiers including providing men and women for operations on other worlds of necessary. The soldiers of the Heer are highly trained, well-motivated and aggressive making them one for one some of the best ground troops in the galaxy.