The German Empire

The Imperial Tricolour

## History

Founded in the year 1871 AD on a distant world known as "Earth", the German Empire was a major power on the European continent during its short 48 years of official existance.

Records of the time between the year 1919 AD and up until the consolidation was complete are sparse, often contradictory, and generally unreliable as the first centuries on **Großpreußen** were accepted to be very tumultuous and unstable times when peoples from the member states of the German Empire, Austro-Hungarian Empire, and other central-European nations found themselves together on the planet by still unknown means.

The first reliable and correlatable records can be found going back around two centuries, when Großpreußen had already been consolidated and under the rule of the Prussian house of Hohenzollern for decades, if not centuries. This is generally accepted to have been the life's work of Kaiser Wilhelm III, whose life otherwise is still largely a mystery, like most historical figures of the modern German Empire from the colonisation and consolidation period. These first reliable records mention the discovery and integration of the **Freikorps** remnants in addition to indicating an early first contact with the **Star Kingdom of Manticore** and **Andermani Empire**, which has so far resulted in a large degree of economic and military cooperation, especially with the former as joint maneuvers and economic planning are quite common.

In an effort to strengthen cooperation with its neighbours and allies, the German Empire joined the **Union of Soviet Sovereign Colonies** upon invitation by the **Star Kingdom of Manticore**. This decision was highly controversial, as the organisation had a powerful communist slant. This understandably did not sit well with any part of the empire, or as it would turn out, the other member states of the union. Tensions with neighbouring powers eventually led to the leading member of the Union, the **Soviet Union**, coming under attack. Internal division led to their calls for assistance falling on deaf ears.

With the fall and subsequent breakup of the **Soviet Union**, the controversial **Union of Soviet Sovereign Colonies** was disbanded. the German Empire, **Star Kingdom of Manticore**, and **Andermani Empire** continued their partnership by founding the **Triumvirate**, which still exists to this day and enjoys widespread prosperity and security.

## Organization

### General Organisation

The German Empire is a union of various states and colonies united under a constitutional monarchy headed by the house of Hohenzollern. The role of the Kaiser is almost entirely executive, as head of state, head of government, and commander in chief of the armed forces. The legislative body is the Reichstag, made up from elected representatives from all constituent planets. An advisory body which partially overlaps with the Reichstag is the Kaiserrat, consisting of the heads of all royal houses and special appointees of the Kaiser.

Related to the German Empire is the **Freikorps**, a state which had been formed independently of the Empire, by similarly displaced descendants of the volunteer corps which were said to have guarded the borders of Germany in the chaos following the Great War. While the militaries and economies of the two states have been heavily integrated by now, a proper absorption is desired by neither side.

### Member and Colony Worlds

**Großpreußen, Class M**

The administrative capital of the Empire, while by far not as heavily industrialised as some other worlds, it still is home to the renowned **Royal Prussian War College**, which has produced some of the finest military minds of the entire **Triumvirate**, in addition to the Naval Academy of Lübeck, and the orbital weapons foundries of Krupp and Rheinmetall. Otherwise, the planet is largely agricultural except for its urban centers.

**Neu Masuren, Class N**

One of the first colonies of the Empire and named for the East Prussian region of Masuria, Neu Masuren is a well-developed Class-N 'Water World', though it is dominated by calm wetlands and shallow freshwater seas unlike most other Class-N planets. Its naturally pleasant yet varied climate and surface features attracted a great amount of settlers early in the Empire's history, leading to it also becoming the first site of contact between the Empire itself and its cousins in the **Freikorps**. This large settlement combined with a strong military expansion at the same time led Neu Masuren to become a premier academy world, being home to the military academies of Regensbach and Siegfriedstadt, where servicemen and -women of the **Freikorps** and Empire live, learn, teach, and exercise side by side as equal partners.

**Eisenberg, Class J**

Literally meaning 'Iron Mountain', Eisenberg is home to the Empire's greatest shipyard, the **Germaniawerft**. One of the few planets in the **Triumvirate** capable of building and maintaining capital ships in quantity, Eisenberg is a vital link for the supply and maintenance of the German Military.

**Donnerstedt, Class I**

///

**Kummersdorf, Class I**

Redacted by order of the Generalstab.

**Ursagrad, Class F**

Redacted

**Alexandrovsk, Class L**

///

**Oppeln-Siegfeld, Class L**

///

**Asteroid Outposts, Class D, DD, DI**

The German Empire maintains a large number of asteroid outposts for industrial purposes, these include but are not limited to the asteroid fields M-5261, M-3813, and M-1212. Due to their industrial nature and lack of any and all natural amenities, they do not house a true permanent population.

## Military

The German military is split into two main branches:

1. Kaiserliche Marine (Imperial German Navy)
	* The German Navy includes all government-owned spaceborne assets not bound to colonial administrations, such as space stations, starships, and small craft capable of operating in space.
2. **Deutsches Heer** (Imperial German Army)
	* The German Army is responsible for all planetary assets such as ground forces, air forces, and naval forces. They are also the branch responsible for the spaceborne naval infantry and other assets used to boarding actions and planetary landings.

The Imperial German Navy currently operates a large variety of warships, from corvettes to frigates, destroyers, battleships, even carriers and strike craft. However, its main doctrine appears based around medium-sized capital ships such as the extensively retrofitted Galor Type II-class vessel **SMS Bayern**.

## Economy

Known for its vast industrial base, the German Empire has a powerful economy dedicated to the processing of raw materials and the production of high-quality consumer goods and powerful armaments, most of which are exported to fellow members of the **Triumvirate** and occasionally foreign buyers mostly through **Manticorian** intermediaries.

Imports are largely limited to fuels and related goods from the **Andermani Empire** and **Star Kingdom of Manticore**, in addition to various raw inputs sourced from the colonies of the **Freikorps**. Internally, the German Empire uses its own currency, the Reichsmark, which has been made freely exchangable with the three primary currencies of the **Triumvirate** until a single unified currency can be established. For external trade, the empire relies upon barter or the galactically-accepted standard currency known simply as Credits, or in rare instanes the **Federation**-backed Larne.

## Political Alignment

Politically, the German Empire maintains a largely neutral position towards the greater alliances and blocs, while being friendly with individual members of such organisations. Its obvious main interest is the security and administration of the western reaches of the galaxy south of **Dominion** space, which has led it into a nearly constant state of **low-intensity warfare** against the **Cardassian Union**, which has lasted from practically first contact up until today, causing the entire conflict to become a comparatively civil affair.