73 replies to this topic

[Randalf Yorgen]

rilianv, on 07 June 2012 - 10:09 PM, said:

The free worlds league is really made up of a handful of large states with parliamentary style government that elects its leaders. After the marik civil war, they turned into a martial parliament and a false thomas marik became the permanent leader up until the beginning of the jihad.

I guess the FWL would be a combination of American states and British government

The False who? the Jihad what? come with me my friend, someone at SAFE would like to have a word with you, are all your affairs in order?

[rilianv]

Safe will have to go thru the rabid foxes if they want me.

[Randalf Yorgen]

the way they bumble about they could probably pull it off inspite of themselves

[rilianv]

are you referring to SAFE or the Rabid Foxes

[Ozric]

The FWL has always been hard to pin down to a real world reference. For me, the British Commonwealth (post Empire) is probably the closest match. Though this future commonwealth was itself just a part of what would later became the FWL, perhaps the most dominant culturally, but you have to look at the other founding nations to really fill in the gaps.

[ThePaLaDiN101]

I always thought of Marik as a mash up of all ethnicities.

[rilianv]

i dont think even the free worlds league could identify with what current country they are most like

[Stovebolt]

Gilded Age America, before the growth of federal power starting with Wilson.
Later Holy Roman Empire/Germany before unification.
Italy from unification to the end of WWII.
Any 19th century liberal confederation.

[CaptFrost]

Seabear, on 06 June 2012 - 05:14 AM, said:

The FWL is very close to the USA in the preCivil War era. - minus the slavery issue. Many of the same issuses that played out then are present in the current FWL, especialyy the issue of state/province v the central government even down to the issues of secession.

This is what I always thought as well.

Canada doesn't work for a myriad of reasons. National government is much too powerful, military is much too weak. Modern US doesn't work, the centralized government isn't as powerful vs. the states as Canada, but it's still much moreso than the FWL. EU definitely doesn't work. It seems to on the surface, but get below that and the FWL would self-destruct in no-time with their system. Ancient Greece doesn't work. The early Roman Republic, when they had the Etruscans, Samnites, and Carthaginians to worry about and had the existence of influential Patrician families running the military works reasonably well, but again you have the issue of sheer centralized power. But one really fits above all else...

Granted I'm no FWL expert, but from what I've read, the FWL feels like what America would've likely been if the Confederates had won the Civil War, sans slavery. Doubly so if Robert E. Lee's family had ended up running the military and having a huge voice in politics for generations, playing the Mariks in the CSA.

Edited by CaptFrost, 20 June 2012 - 02:37 AM.

[MMax]

It's like the EU!

Many different cultures, languages and a federal structure. A lot of fighting between the ranks but indeed a democracy.

[lllWAVElll]

I think it's more similar to the United Nations.

"The government of the Free Worlds League is often misinterpreted as a representative democracy by superficial observation. In fact, the members of the parliament are representatives of the individual planets. The individual members of the parliament are determined by planetary governments, however. Consequently, the Free Worlds League's parliament may include elected representatives and representatives appointed by planetary dictators as well. This results in a mixture of regional and federal authorities. The individuals within the overlapping layers of bureaucracy continually vie for prominence.

At the federal level, a struggle for power between the legislative (Parliament) and executive (the Captain-General) existed almost as soon as the nation was formed. The relative dominance of either side waxed and waned over the centuries, though, in general, the Captain-General accrued more and more authority." (http://www.sarna.net...e_Worlds_League)

Edited by lllWAVElll, 20 June 2012 - 05:20 PM.

[Jackalhit]

CaptFrost, on 20 June 2012 - 02:30 AM, said:

Granted I'm no FWL expert, but from what I've read, the FWL feels like what America would've likely been if the Confederates had won the Civil War, sans slavery. Doubly so if Robert E. Lee's family had ended up running the military and having a huge voice in politics for generations, playing the Mariks in the CSA.

I don't know much about the FWL, but like you, from what I've read, I was thinking the EXACT same thing.

[Multitallented]

Yes, I want to say that it's the USA with slightly different politics, but I think you could say that about a few other countries as well. For now I like not labeling the FWL and just saying it's unique.

[Alizabeth Aijou]

FWL is...
Fighting itself.
Give it two or three decades and it will have torn itself apart.

[Kraven Kor]

I think the original writers did a fairly decent job of not making any of the major Successor States too similar to real world countries or cultures, with maybe the exception of Kurita.

I don't think there is a good comparison, really.

[Adel Belmont]

So it basickly mean that the FWL would be if each countries of Earth had their own planets each with their own social, political, economics and military stuctures, Having allies say Canada & the USA and enemies Planet 1 vs Planet 2 or something while part of a bigger whole aka FWL with it's own parliament and rules and a central figure to "lead" everything.....

FWL sound pretty much like Earth to me

[Sealawyer]

The canon history states Duchy of the Oriente being primarily North American, European Spanish and Italian. The Principality of Regulus being Indian with a dominant Hindu culture. And the last part the Marik Commonwealth being Central European. So a really big mish mash of all the world cultures not covered by the other houses.

[Ito Ogami]

Howdy,


The FWL is?

A cream filled Ho Hos cake!

Long live the power of the Ho HOS cakes!

Hm, been close to 30 years since I had one of them, but I could not resist using their name.

[Xytaglyph]

Mike Silva, on 13 May 2012 - 12:41 PM, said:

Marik's military is too powerful to be Canada.

LOLOLOL
so true

[Beazle]

Iron Harlequin, on 13 May 2012 - 01:13 PM, said:

I thought House Marik, Davion, and FRR had "bits&pieces" of American & Canadian influence?

Honestly, all the houses have bits and pieces of American and Canadian influence for 2 simple reasons.

1: The writers were mostly (all?) American, and so they applied their own perceptual filters to the creation of each state. (ie the Combine isn't what Space Japanese would be, but what an American thinks Space Japanese would be.)

2: The Americans were one of the first to go to space and begin colonization. Most of the worlds with heavy "American" culture lay within the borders of the Terran Hegemony. When the TH was destroyed, it's worlds were taken by the houses, bringing bits of their culture with them.