Hanza Republic

The **Hanza Republic (H.R.)**, also called the **Hanza**, was a self-proclaimed spacer state that was supported, and later controlled, by the Hanseatic League before and during the Great Galactic War. Founded in the mid-25th century, it consisted of several spacer worlds - chief among them Laconia, Sparta and Thermopylae - and several space stations on the outer fringes of the Settled Systems and was part of Salen Dune's goal of building a spacer superpower.

Over the course of the war, the Hanza invaded and occupied a number of systems, planets and space stations, which they governed via military administrations and puppet regimes. They launched full-scale invasions of Kepler Space, the Home Systems and various corporate outposts, swaying hundreds of millions of spacers to their cause in the process. Civilian authority throughout the Hanza was slowly eroded by the League's increasingly authoritarian rule, causing several factions that had once supported them to join the Spacers Legion and aid the Stellar Alliance. Failures in the Home Systems, the subsequent resurgence of Alliance forces and the loss of Thermopylae meant that the Hanza lost the initative by 2443 and were forced to retreat to their core systems, where they battled an immense allied invasion until Dune's assassination in 2445. With the loss of their figurehead, the Hanza Republic quickly collapsed, with their former strongholds, Sparta and Laconia, falling into corporate hands.

## History

### Background

Laconia, the future capital of the Hanza, had been a backwater since it was settled by House Izar miners in the 24th century. After the miners abandoned the planet, it fell into spacer hands and became one of their largest colonies; in the 2400s, the planet joined the Spacers Legion. Like most spacer worlds, its inhabitants were divided into a number of tribes that regularly combatted each other over territory and resources.

Laconia was also one of several colonies visited by Salen Dune, a bastard son of Cornelius Izar, who sought to learn about the territories that his family had abandoned. Born a terran, Dune had long abandoned his ancestral loyalties to Earth and proclaimed himself a spacer, going so far as to have an anchor implanted. When he arrived at Laconia, Dune saw the planet's potential to be a dominant spacer power; with that in mind, Dune also saw an opportunity to seize some power for himself.

Using his charisma and skill with languages, Dune united several Laconian tribes and their associated settlements into a single "Hanseatic League" that was fully under his command. His knowledge of military strategy, unmatched anywhere on Laconia, allowed his new League to conquer other settlements with ease; soon, the entire planet fell under the emblem of the League. The planet's isolation - deep in the bridge systems - meant that there were no outside powers that could interfere with Dune's growing empire; despite his victorious, Dune was not sated and immediately set his eyes on other worlds.

### Dune's Rise to Power

In 2433, Dune and his League departed Laconia for the nearby world of Sparta, a spacer planet with a thriving tradition of warfare. The spartans had never fought in a war, but all had spent their lives training for a "great cause" that they could dedicate their lives to; Dune, with his ambitions and fleet of loyal followers, presented the chance that generations of spartans had been waiting for. Sparta capitulated almost immediately, angering a small sect of spartan warriors that subsequently abandoned the planet to form the Spartan Order.

Now armed with an entire culture of people ready to spill blood in his name, Dune's ambitions deepened; he sought to build a spacer empire, one mightier than the United Colonies and Herschel Nations combined, and he now had the manpower and resources to do so. In 2434, Dune officially proclaimed the Hanza Republic with him as Supreme Leader and Lord Commander.

## Government & Society

   The Hanza was ruled by a totalitarian government whose influence and rule rapidly extended, not limited to, Laconia (the capital), Sparta, Thermopylae and more than a hundred space stations, as well as smaller planets, moons and asteroids; at the height of its power, the Hanza claimed nearly 100 worlds. The Hanseatic Diet members were theoretically elected, but their appointment was ultimately decided by the Hanseatic League. Their society was deeply militaristic and heavily authoritarian, and social status was based largely on individual citizens' loyalties to the regime.

Hanza society was also heavily influenced by state-run propaganda, as the state-sponsored propaganda center, the "Veritas", controlled much of the spread of information within Hanza territories, going so far as to block out any Alliance transmissions to Hanza space. Propaganda went as far as to utilise an alternative calendar counted after the secession of the Republic and based off Laconia's orbit around its star.

The Hanza worshiped strength and power, with the Diet proclaiming that victory was ultimately superior to the truth. For the Hanza, the domination of the Settled Systems and the subjugation of terrans and aresians was a goal all spacers should aspire towards. They also had disdain for individual freedom, seemingly instead focusing on the collective good.