20 replies to this topic

[Publius Decius Mus]

As a Democracy with elected leader why are we called the House of Marik?

[Seabear]

We follow house Marik by choice - not because they are the embodimnet of our nation like occurs in other realms. The family has done well for us in the past (well, usually), but my allegence is to my home and The Free World League not one family in it. Leave that to the other IS powers. It is not in our natures to follow anyone blindly. Can you imagine a solldier of the FWL following orders like those given by Kurita on Kantares IV just because a Marik sayes do it? Remember that sometimes the question is not house Marik but about which Marik. Mariks come and go. Other families have held the title of Capitan-General before and may again. Keep the eagle( The Mariks did give us a wonderful symbol.) flying FREE!

Edited by Seabear, 13 March 2012 - 08:52 AM.

[Stovebolt]

I like to look at the Free Worlds League like Italy before and during WWII. Technically, it has a ruler (I don't know if Mussolini or Vittorio Emmanuele would be a better example) but they'll pretty much only follow as long as the leader isn't being completely stupid.

Luckily House Marik has a better track record than the House of Savoy.

[Karel Spaten]

Stovebolt, on 13 March 2012 - 03:54 PM, said:

Luckily House Marik has a better track record than the House of Savoy.

Just.

[Seabear]

I like to think of the FWL as similar to the US before the "Late War of Northern Aggression" (the Civil War) minus the moral stain of slavery - A group of provinces/states trying to work out exactly how the balance of power between the central government and the component provinces/states works. Same political atmosphere. Same regional differences, Even many of the events are parallel. I'm sure there will be those who disagree with me about this, but isn't that one of our mst endearing and frustrating traits?For me, all the good stuff withoutany of the stuff I can't stand!

[2dme]

Only problem with us being a democracy is House Marik kind of has the whole hereditary rule thing going on

[Dlardrageth]

2dme, on 15 March 2012 - 11:34 AM, said:

Only problem with us being a democracy is House Marik kind of has the whole hereditary rule thing going on

Think of it as an early "republican model" without all the trappings of modern democracy. Who is going to claim we got the ultimate and best model for all times anyway? It does resemble an enlightened constitutional monarchy in all but the name, but as the history of the FWL shows clearly, the exact "balance of power" between House Marik and the Parliament is something that can change significantly.

[Jakebob]

Free Worlds League is the name of the state, House Marik is the family of the hereditary head of state... just like the Liao family in the Capellan Confederation, the Steiner family in the Lyran Commonwealth, etc..

modern-day example: the United Kingdom, with a hereditary head of state from the house of Windsor.

[Vincent J Magnum]

Jakebob, on 17 March 2012 - 10:30 AM, said:

modern-day example: the United Kingdom, with a hereditary head of state from the house of Windsor.

I agree

[Kenyon Burguess]

this isnt a true democracy. the captain-general has complete control of the military and the final say on all political matters.

[Durant Carlyle]

I'd vote in the poll, but it's Free Worlds League. Without that S it just doesn't make sense.

The rest of the question has been answered satisfactorily.

[_Dervish_]

FWL should be managed by empire. Long live the emperor.

[RJ788]

Geist Null, on 28 March 2012 - 07:59 AM, said:

this isnt a true democracy. the captain-general has complete control of the military and the final say on all political matters.

exactly like true democracy! haha

[Ilithi Dragon]

The Free Worlds League is in many ways the BT embodiment of the Republic-era Roman Empire (eagle emblem and purple colors and all), with some flavorings taken from the United States.

The FWL is a parliamentary/republican democracy, and the office of the Captain-General is actually NOT an officially hereditary office. It is TRADITIONALLY a hereditary office, because House Marik holds a lot of political power in the FWL in many ways for many reasons, and because the handful of times that a Marik hasn't held the office it resulted in unmitigated disaster, but the parliament has every ability to remove Marik from the office, and has exercised that ability in the past (though, as noted, a Marik was returned to the office quickly enough because every such instance has ended in disaster), though the authority of the Captain-Generalcy has been increased significantly beyond the original constitutional authority by acts of Parliament, and by the start of MWO the Captain-General has unprecedented authority over Parliament and the FWL as a whole


There are two most significant problems plaguing the FWL, and that ultimately lead to its collapse in the Jihad era. The first is the increasing concentration of power in the office of the Captain-General, especially in recent times with the Internal Emergency Act of 3030 which stripped all FWL members of their traditional autonomy and placing them under the direct rule of the Captain-General and the Addendum to the Incorporation passed in 3037, which gave the Captain-General the power to dismiss and absolute veto over Parliament, as well as removing Parliament's ability to use the budget as a means to check the Captain-General's power (following a similar course to the Roman Empire in transition from Republic to Empire there). The second is a lack of or the breakdown of sufficiently strong unifying bonds to keep the FWL's wild and boisterous and disparate factions unified under a single banner instead of splitting off to their own devices, with the latter being exacerbated and/or caused by the former.


As a citizen of the Free Worlds League, my loyalty is to my home planet and to the FWL. I follow Marik because Marik is the Captain-General, and the only likely alternative candidates to Marik have, so far, been less-than-desirable, though I am politically out-spoken against the recent increases in the power and authority of the Captain-Generalcy, and the stripping of the autonomy of the FWL members and the removing of checks against the Captain-Generalcy's power.

[Adridos]

ilithi dragon, on 25 April 2012 - 06:23 AM, said:

The Free Worlds League is in many ways the BT embodiment of the Republic-era Roman Empire (eagle emblem and purple colors and all), with some flavorings taken from the United States.

What about the Marian Hegemony?

[Ilithi Dragon]

Adridos, on 25 April 2012 - 06:35 AM, said:

What about the Marian Hegemony?

Well, they've got the titles, sure, and the caste-based social structure, but the internal dynamic and politics/history of the FWL are much closer to that of the Roman Republic, and then the Republic in the transition to Empire after the 4th Succession than Marion's. Marion is a periphery state purposely modeled after the Roman Empire, the FWL is the embodiment of the Roman Republic and its transition to the Roman Empire.

[Sal Trebov]

The scions of House Marik have been good and bad for the Free Worlds League. Kenyon and his father Ewan were poison for the League and for the Inner Sphere as a whole, while Albert Marik is one of the reasons I still support House Marik. They have their share of angels and demons, but they're our angels and demons.

Having said that, I'm more of a supporter of House Halas and Oriente anyway. Gotta support your home state.

[Logan W]

Free Worlds league is our name, and also, do we get to elect our leaders?

[Dovoid]

We are the FWL our leader is marik

[Randalf Yorgen]

Free Worlds League under Captain General Marik just like the Star League under General Kerensky. Those who do not remember who Kerensky was should take a history class about the lead up to the First war of Succession. General Kerensky won the war against the Amarius Userper but ended up with a heavy load on his shoulders, too heavy it seems and it caused him to lose touch with reality. He packed up over two thirds of the Star League military, that's two thirds of the complete TO&E and jumped out of known space and into history. That started the power struggle and led us into almost 300 years of continuous warfare with in the Inner Sphere, They met their fate though, those poor suckers who followed him must have suffered greatly before their demise. I read somewhere, a long time ago, that an old settlement had been uncovered in the deep periphery, 10-15 jumps past the red line, but that it hadn't been a viable settlement and that everyone there had died out after a few generations. Speculation, based on the limited evidence left at that site, is that it was the last of the Star League forces and that their passing marked the end to that chapter of human history. I doubt we will ever know what became of the rest of them but I suspect that they met a similar fate.

Why did this happen to them? Because those soldiers in the Star League were loyal to a man first before anything else. That is why we in the FWL are Loyal to the Free Worlds League First and Foremost and then loyal to the Captain General but seeing as how the Captain General is also Loyal to the Free Worlds League and has her best interests at heart we follow his orders and we keep her safe and bring her glory.


Trying to get into the roll a little. It's amazing what I can remember after all these years.