The Christian Democratic Commonwealth

Art by Janboruta

The Christian Democratic Commonwealth is a custom Sponsor for Civilization Beyond Earth. It represents a royal commonwealth between the United Kingdom, Norway, and Denmark-Greenland.

The Northern Sea Alliance has been altered to accomodate.

## Background

### The Northern Alliance

Prior to the collapse of the European Union, the countries of Northern Europe had become increasingly isolated from their continental brethren, and had begun to turn inwards for support. With the United Kingdom and Norway having long served as successful observer states to the EU, Denmark-Greenland and Sweden both sought to increase their autonomy. Whilst for Denmark-Greenland - already the most autonomous of the European Federal States - this would be a success, Sweden's attempt would end in a constitutional crisis. This would ultimately see the abolition of Sweden's Provisional Monarchy (a type of Monarchy stipulated to be in transitory stage to a republic, according to the contemporary rules of EU membership) and the last rights of her sovereignty devolved to Brussels. The result was the deepning of the mistrust which already united the Northern states against the continent.

### The Great Mistake

The Great Mistake had a dire effect upon the countries of Northern Europe. The great capital cities of Copenhagen and London were almost completely consumed in the rising sea levels and become effectively uninhabitable, whilst the cities of Oslo and Riga (an independent City-State since the Russian annexation of Latvia) experienced severe flooding themselves. This forced the governments of the United Kingdom and Denmark to be re-located; the UK government to Balmoral Castle, at the invitation of King George IX, and the Danish government to Greenland, where the Danish Crown already held partial residence. The subsequent influx of migrants from the Middle-East and Asia into Europe would result in a severe stagnation of the democratic and parliamentary processes of the government, forcing various monarchies to exercise and extend their prerogative powers in order to deal with the burgeoning pressures of the Great Mistake's consequences. This resulted in the creation of a common security force and the break-down of diplomatic relations with the European powers on the continent, who sought arbitrary repairations for the collapse of the European Union for what they considered to be at the fault of the UK and Denmark.

### The Christian Democratic Alliance

Over a number of generations, the people of Northern Europe became increasingly isolated - not more so was this than following the gradual collapse of the Commonwealth of Nations. Over time, the royal families of Denmark-Greenland, Norway, Sweden (which had been exiled abroad following Sweden's constitutional collapse), and the UK had become interwoven, until a single household, and then a single monarch, united them all. This allowed for the creation of a Commonwealth to which the people of Northern Europe would feel united in solidarity. This Commonwealth would appeal to the virtues of a strong work ethic and a national identity which committed to a single Protestant Church and the veneration of the monarch as the defender of the Commonwealth's democratic and religious integrity, and which, perhaps propagandistically (and sometimes to the point of violent discrimination), revered its own isolationism. Bound by a strong commitment to democracy, a tricameral Commonwealth Parliament was created; composed of the House of Lords, the House of Faith, and the House of Commons, which would eventually come to replace the individual Parliaments of the Commonwealth's constituent nations. This allowed for the Commonwealth, or the Christian Democratic Commonwealth as it came to be known, to become a symbol of sanctuary for the institutions of democracy and religion which had begun to break-down on the continent; sealing together the nations of Northern European in the post-Great Mistake world.

### The Seeding

Though without the funds to launch an expedition themselves, the Commonwealth managed to participate in the Seeding on the back of the American Reclamation Corporation, who offered to fund the initial launch in exchange for an exclusive contract with the Commonwealth Royal Navy - the most reputable navy in the world and the symbol of the monarchy. This would allow the Commonwealth to join the other great nations of the world in their effort to colonise beyond earth, to seek the wealth necessary to rebuild the legacies which had been buried by the Great Mistake and the centuries following. At the behest of the reigning monarch, King Valdemar, the Princess Royal, Elisabeth, reputed for her sharp political skills, would accompany the first Christian Commonwealth expedition into space. This would be in the hopes that the people of the Commonwealth, though far from earth, would never be far from home.

## Foreign Policies

 **Two-Power Standard** | Increased  Production for Naval Units.

## Leader

### Title

Lord Protectress of the Christian Democratic Commonwealth Expedition

Elisabeth is the leader of the Christian Democratic Commonwealth.

### Background

Though no direct heir to any throne within the Christian Commonwealth, Elisabeth, as the eldest daughter to King Valdemar, is yet an influential and strong-willed member of the royal family. Born at the ancient Balmoral Castle, - the seat of Commonwealth government - Elisabeth was at the forefront of political education. Often, the teenaged Elisabeth would not only sit in Parliament, but would also engage in shouting matches with both sides during Parliamentary sessions; much to the disgruntlement and amusement of various ministers. Though she possesses of a loose-tongue, and often cannot hold her temper, her keen wit and sharp sense of character often demonstrates her superiority in any political debate; making her a prime candidate to lead a Commonwealth-based expedition into space.

### Excerpts from Colony Archives

#### Diaries, vol. I, Elisabeth

I am no faint-hearted Princess, and this journey is testimony to that fact. I am an adventurer; one of courage, and bravery, and with a will to survive, and I know my way around a rifle. This new planet had best prepare, for I shall not be trifled with.

#### Diaries, vol. I, Elisabeth

Perhaps you would say it prudent to record the crude truth; of the nights in which my bravery faltered, and in which I cried for the father and the King that I have now left behind. But I would disagree. For that it is not to know what we all share that these diaries are written; but rather to be told the possibility of courage and strength in spite of these pains. We are all fearful, but we, too, can be all brave. That is what I want my people to know.

#### Diaries, vol. II, Elisabeth

I have seen these other expeditions - led by businessmen, and bankers, and lawyers, and soldiers - and I am given courage that my people fare better already. With them journeys the love of their King, and it is this love that shall be what spurs them on in the face of the unknown. No strength of arms or depth of purse shall ever resolve the frightened and weary to stand strong in the face of danger. Only the love that our King sends with them through me can carry them forward in this harrowing journey.

#### Diaries, vol. II, Elisabeth

If I should be the first sovereign's daughter to space, then I must set it upon myself to show three things: that as a women, what differences from men I possess, I can overcome, and that I can do so without quest for repairation. That as a princess, what sovereignty I bare I do so to lift the burden and wickedness of power from the shoulders of my people. And that, as a human, I meet unknown's gaze and shirk not, and let the fear of death merely embolden my spirit and strengthen my heart.

#### On Sovereignty and the King, The Princess Royal Elisabeth

In what way would it be sensible to socialise the King's sovereignty? Sovereignty is not a good; it is a measurement of fact - of the means of a man to act as he will. If we must act in the favour of all, that is simply the poorest of all means to act according to our own nature. And would this not be a violation of the contract, to which we consent upon the enterment of society, in which we accord our sovereignty to those whose means are greater and not lesser?

## Loadout

The mod also includes new Loadout choices.

 **Gunboat** |      | Cargo

## Credits

* JFD - Code, Concept, Writing
* Janboruta - Art

## References

1. ↑ On the Steam Workshop
2. ↑ Modified foreign policy of the North Sea Alliance.