First Commonwealth

The **Commonwealth of All Peoples of Earth** or **Commonwealth of Earth**, referred to as **the First Commonwealth** to distinguish it from the present Commonwealth of Earth, was a nation which ruled all of humanity during the early years following Unification. It was completely different to any nation to come before or after it. It encompassed all of Earth, as well as Mars for a brief time period. Whilst very different in structure to the United Nations, it retained a lot of its aspects. The parliament building was located in the old UN headquarters in New York. The near entirety of the First Commonwealth's existence was dominated by a single individual known only as the Custodian. He was mostly responsible for the Unification itself as well as the forming of first the Commonwealth and later the Federal system. He is considered to this day the father of nation of both the Commonwealth and the Terran Federation. In 2097, a year following the formation of the Commonwealth of Mars, the Commonwealth was dissolved and replaced with the current Commonwealth of Earth, which was incorporated into the TFR.

Following a humanitarian crisis in the 2040s , caused by various economic crises, conflicts and natural disasters, an European general now known as the Custodian took power in the European Federation in a coup. He was initially very popular due to his great success in the Maghreb wars and Georgian campaign and ran on a platform of anti-corruption and economic development through broad investment programs. He began a series of conflicts which would come to be known as the Unification wars, and would encompass the majority of Earth. Thanks to the wiping out of nuclear weapons in the 2030s, he waged conventional wars across the globe and integrated nations into the European Federation. In 2063, he proclaimed the Trans-Atlantic Union after the United States of America and the Anglic Federation (CANZUK) joined willingly. Two years later, following the accessions of Japan, Korea and ASEAN to the Union he declared the Commonwealth.

In 2081 as the Unification Wars came to a close, the Custodian was forced to relinquish some powers. The legislative Assembly of the People was given real power and the Executive Council was formed, which whilst still dominated by him gave more room for disagreement. In 2085, Mars was forced to cede any and all autonomy to become an integral part of the Commonwealth. In 2096, when Mars' population reached 2 million it was given the status of Commonwealth itself. The next year the First Commonwealth was reorganised and the Terran Federation was formed.

The First Commonwealth is remembered by the Terran public as a period of extreme authoritarianism and political and press repression. Whilst not as violent against its own people as many of the 20th century's dictatorships, the First Commonwealth saw complete state-control of the press and media until 2081. Political dissidents were silenced and more extreme ones were sent to prisons and work camps. Religious suppression was also intense and the state-atheism policy was much more strictly enforced. Nevertheless, most Terrans see it as a period of many necessary sacrifices which allowed the Federation to become what it is today.

After multiple successful battles and arriving to Moscow he proposed peace to Russia. This peace was promptly accepted. It resulted in Russia and all other ex-Soviet members effectively becoming republics within the European Federation. Due to talks which had started already in the late 2030s, the United States of America (at the time only controlling the North-East Coast, Great Lakes Regions and West Coast), CANZUK and the European Federation merged to form the Trans-Atlantic Union, or TAU in 2062. Japan and South Korea would join TAU in 2063. With the collapse of the Chinese Communist Party in the late 2050s, China would once more errupt into civil-war. This would be exploited by the TAU which would through alliances with the local rulers and pure military strength finish the Chinese campaigns by 2071. ASEAN and India would end up merging with TAU in 2068 and 2072 respectively. This is when the Commonwealth was declared, as well as the Custodianship. The Unification Wars would last until 2078, clearing pockets of resistance and integrating the last remaining independent nations on the planet, most notably the Arab United League. There are only very few records of the uprisings of that era, but we know they happened. It is assumed that they were brutally crushed due to other actions taken by the Custodian at a similar time.

The Custodianship was a unique system of the First Commonwealth. Whilst the democratic institutions were being put in place, the now Grand Marshall proclaimed himself the Custodian of the Commonwealth. This effectively granted him absolute powers and allowed him to shape the Commonwealth as he pleased. Most of this power was utilised to first of standardise measurement units, currencies and living standards over the world. He also insisted on keeping extremely detailed records on historical events as well as languages and cultures of his time and the times before. Most of this knowledge has been preserved today. The areas of the unification wars and the First Commonwealth that have little to no documentation about them are almost exclusively events which were hidden by the Custodian. The Custodian shaped the Commonwealth and for most of his reign prepared the system which would become the Federation. He did this as he knew Mars would become a commonwealth one day and he wanted to preserve all