House Davion

House Davion

Strongly influenced by Great Britain and France.
Capital world, New Avalon.

The Federated Suns is an interstellar nation set within the fictional BattleTech game universe introduced by FASA Corporation in the 1980s. The Federated Suns have been ruled by the Davion Family, or House Davion, since the nation's founding in 2317.

The Fedsuns was founded in 2317 by Lucien Davion, Prime Minister of New Avalon, when he negotiated a mutual defense and assistance agreement, known as the Crucis Pact, with 20 nearby star systems. Lucien became the federation's first president and New Avalon its capital. A member of the Davion family has led the Federated Suns in unbroken succession for the past 700 years. Presently on the throne is Jason “Blacksunshine” Davion. The Federated Suns claim approximately 400 inhabited star systems under its aegis, nearly double the number of worlds controlled at the beginning of the Succession Wars. In addition, uncounted other worlds are claimed and exploited by Davion forces.

Much of House Davion's growth over the past 200 years has taken place at the expense of Liao's Capellan Confederation.

An even more serious enemy to the Federated Suns has been the Draconis Combine, ruled by House Kurita, which nearly succeeded in conquering the Davion realm during the First Succession War. By forging an alliance with the Lyran Commonwealth in 3022, Davion forced Kurita to spread its 'Mech resources along two frontiers, leaving many worlds thinly defended.

Foundation

The Federated Suns was the brainchild of the Davion family, an influential noble family of the world of New Avalon. The father of the Federated Suns was Lucien Davion, a master politician and statesman. His brothers Louis, a scheming political genius and Charles, a military man, assisted him in forming an alliance of several worlds in the area for the purpose of trade and common defense known as the Crucis Pact. Soon, the realm was growing exponentially and eventually stretched into most of what is now known as the Crucis March. The formation of the Crucis Pact was in direct response to James McKenna's founding of the Terran Hegemony.

Originally, the Federated Suns was a democracy led by the High Council-- a group of the leaders of all member-worlds-- led by a President who was charged with national defense. The Presidency gradually became a hereditary position of the Davion family and soon the Davion dynasty was born.

The Age of War

The Age of War came to the Federated Suns due to a crisis within the little known state of Muscegon. Muscegon was a world ruled by a tyrant that had built a small empire of five worlds. The Muscegon Supremacy, as this collection was known, had joined the Federated Suns. However, due to the horrific regime of the Muscegon dictatorship, two of its colony worlds seceded and turned to what would later emerge into the Capellan Confederation for help. The Federated Suns was forced to raise an army to combat the secession, as per its promise to provide for Muscegon's defense, and soon there was warfare all across the Capellan border. Meanwhile, things were not well in the Davion household. Two deranged twins, Edward and Edmund Davion, had assumed the leadership of the FedSuns and were running the nation into the ground with their extravagance and foolish decisions. A conspiracy of High Council members planned on assassinating Edward (the only remaining twin) and disbanding the office of President. This would have rendered the war against the Capellans as good as lost without centralized military leadership.

The potential crisis between the High Council and the First Prince was averted when Simon Davion, a cousin of the twins, assassinated Edward in the High Council building. Simon Davion, just days after the murder proposed a compromise whereby the Federated Suns was to be divided into five Marches (Crucis, Capellan, Terran, Draconis, and Periphery, each supported by a nobility (both hereditary and elected). Surprisingly, after much debate, the High Council chose to accept Simon's proposal, thus making him the First Prince (amongst the four other Princes the Crucis March leader was known as the First Prince.) For nearly a hundred years, Simon's compromise kept the peace in the Federated Suns until William Davion died, leaving behind his widow and infant son, Alexander.

Meanwhile the Varnay family, the leader of the Capellan March that had long harbored aspirations towards the office of First Prince and had married young Alexander's aunt Cassandra, jockeyed for the leadership of the Federated Suns. It was eventually agreed that five regents would rule the Federated Suns. For ten years, the members of the Regency struggled amongst themselves, each in the end forgetting about Prince Alexander, whom, although the rightful heir to the First Princedom, was increasingly disregarded by the Regents, who now looked towards the leadership of the Federated Suns for themselves. Meanwhile, Alexander had come of age and demanded that he be placed on what was rightfully his throne. For years afterwards, there was a passionate struggle between Prince Alexander and those who wanted to assume the throne for themselves. In the end, all were defeated and finally the Federated Suns was united under the rightful heir of House Davion.

The Star League Era

When the Cameron family began its attempt to unite humanity into a, "Star League," the Federated Suns was very friendly towards the notion. Prince Alexander felt that his government, in the wake of a long Civil War would do well to focus on domestic prosperity and not on warfare. Therefore it surprised no one when, in 2567 the Federated Suns joined the Star League, (Becoming the Fourth Member State.) The Star League Years were relatively quiet with the Federated Suns working with the Star League to insure for a reign of peace and prosperity that lasted for hundreds of years. The sole exception in this reign of peace were the Reunification Wars, a series of conflicts fought between the Federated Suns and the Periphery states, which the Star League attempted to force into joining the League. Although the wars cost many lives, they were largely fought light years away from the average resident of the Federated Suns and had little effect on their day to day lives. Once the Star League achieved its inevitable victory there was a period of peace unknown in the history of Human affairs as mankind devoted itself to science and the colonization of new worlds.

In the end, treachery would cause the Star League to fall, but the Federated Suns persevered. Each Council Lord (the head of each of the five Great Houses) returned to his or her respective capital and declared themselves the new First Lord of the Star League. No side seemed willing to give any ground, so each prepared for the inevitable: war.

The First and Second Succession Wars

The first two Succession Wars were some of the most destructive wars in the history of mankind. Each Successor State had no qualms about destroying cities, massacring civilians, destroying JumpShips and other civilian infrastructure. They also used nuclear weapons to great effect. The overall effect of these two conflicts was to reduce the technological sophistication of the Successor States to a level approximately equivalent to that of the Industrial Revolution. While they still had automated factories, they lost the ability to produce any more.

During the First Succession War, the Federated Suns made steady gains against the Capellan Confederation, but were surprised when the Draconis Combine attacked. The Combine's assault pushed all the way through the Draconis March into the Crucis March until Combine troops actually landed on New Avalon and destroyed the palace. Fate would strike, however, when a resistance member killed Coordinator Minoru Kurita, who was overseeing the offensive from Kentares. His son, the mad Jinjiro, became Coordinator and order the Kentares civilians bathed in their own blood. The Combine samurai carried out their duty and savagely murdered over 3/4 of the population of Kentares, killing millions. These same samurai were horrified at what they had done, so they enacted ritual seppuku to atone and salvage their honor. As word of their actions spread, many other Combine warriors followed suit, greatly weakening their offensive. Many who did not kill themselves were still ashamed, damaging their will to fight. By contrast, this massacre galvanized the FedSuns troops, who rallied and forced the Combine back, almost to the pre-war border. Exhausted, both sides called a truce.

The Second Succession War saw more of the same, though memories of the Kentares Massacre were fresh in the minds of many. No such events took place, but the FedSuns made progress against both of their neighbors. As the war ground to a halt, it was clear that no Successor State military was the same. They were gutted organizations that were close to breaking down. In this, the Federated Suns was similar to their counterparts.

The Third Succession War and the Steiner-Davion Alliance

The Third Succession War saw a different type of warfare. In an unspoken agreement, the Successor States no longer fought using total warfare. Population centers were respected, JumpShips were off-limits, and military targets were fought over, not destroyed. Rather than destroying those targets, the losing side simply comforted themselves with the knowledge that they could reconquer it. With the loss of technology, BattleMech factories and water purification plants became prize targets. Overall, the days of full-scale invasions were gone, replaced by low-level raiding. This ritualization of warfare, however, led to the belief that war was an acceptable way of solving disagreements. As this constant, low-intensity warfare continued, whole generations grew up knowing nothing else.

The Federated Suns continued to make slow but steady gains against their two largest neighbors. Prince Melissa Davion streamlined the AFFS bureaucracy, allowing them to be more effective against their enemies.^[1]

In 3020, Archon Katrina Steiner of the Lyran Commonwealth extended a proposal of peace to the leaders of the other four Successor States. Only Prince Hanse Davion showed any interest. Their mutual discussion culminated in the signing of the Federated-Commonwealth Alliance Document in 3022 on Terra. The alliance also had a secret provision that called for the marriage of Hanse and Katrina's 16 year old daughter, Archon-designate Melissa Steiner.^[2]

Politics of the Federated Suns

The Federated Suns could best be described as a monarchy, albeit one with constitutional limits placed on the monarch's powers. The First Prince is the leader of the Federated Suns and is the commander in chief of the Armed Forces of the Federated Suns, or AFFS. Since the reign of Prince Alexander the High Council has become a glorified, "rubber stamp" organization. The Privy Council is a group of the highest advisors to the First Prince and is extremely important in the running of the day-to-day affairs of the state. The Nobility of the Federated Suns, created during the reign of Prince Simon Davion, also hold positions of authority, but The Federated Suns has a weaker nobility than some of the other Successor States. The citizens of the realm also have several basic rights protected by Federated Suns law, which include freedom of speech and freedom of religion, and the ability to appeal to the central government in order to have unpopular or destructive noblemen removed from office.

Federated Suns Military

In terms of strength of arms, the Federated Suns is one of the most powerful nations in the Inner Sphere. The First Princes of House Davion have always been committed to the military of their realm and every Davion is required to serve in the armed forces in order to claim the title of First Prince. The Armed Forces of the Federated Suns is a highly disciplined, professional force that benefits greatly from technological advances from the New Avalon Institute of Science as well as the high degree of training its members receive.

Religion in the Federated Suns

The Federated Suns is committed to allowing freedom of religion to its citizenry. During the First Succession wars when the Draconis Combine and Capellan Confederation were bearing down against House Davion's forces there was a wave of hatred against Asian residents of the realm and many Buddhist institutions were destroyed. Today however Buddhism is practiced freely throughout Davion Space. Judaism maintains a small but active presence in the Federated Suns and is centered in and around the world of Robinson. The closest thing to a persecuted faith in the Federated Suns is the Azami branch of Islam, which is distrusted by the Davion government due to the large and important Azami population in the Draconis Combine. The larger Sunni branch of Islam is completely accepted by the Federated Suns population. Hinduism is important a region in the Southern portion of Davion Space called the United Hindu Collective. It was formerly a sovereign state but later joined the Federated Suns. Protestant Christianity is the largest of all of the religious faiths of the Federated Suns. The Catholic branch of Christianity is also important although it is divided between those who owe loyalty to Rome and a split-off known as the New Avalon Catholic Church which is based around a misinterpretation of a communiqué from the Pope to the Cardinal of New Avalon.

Works Sited:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_Davion

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federated_Suns