Terran Imperium

The Terran Imperium, more commonly referred to as either the Imperium or the Terran Empire, is a massive absolute monarchy that controls millions upon millions of world's with hundreds of sentient species residing in it as well. It has existed since 6369 BTC/30,000 CE. It, along with the Galactic Republic, is one of the two superpowers who had influenced galactic history throughout their existence. This vast Empire had been involved in a large scale Cold War with the Galactic Republic that has lasted throughout its' existence. This ten-thousand year-long cold war eventually became known as the Great Galactic Cold War.

Although the two powers are beginning to assume more diplomatic relations following the end of the Second Galactic War, there is still tension evident between the two of them, however. The Imperium has had its' share of bloody conflicts ranging from the planetary scale to the galactic scale. They are a people greatly accustomed to war but also to peace as well. They are aware the future is uncertain, but they will go on willingly.

As of 3638 ATC/40K.007 CE, the Imperium has since been reorganized as a Constitutional Monarchy with a Parliamentary Democracy following Lelouch's daughter, Liana, ascension to the throne as Empress of the Imperium.

Demographics

Species

Being the government of a unified Terran society, predictably, the largest number of species that make up the Imperium are the Terrans. However, it's only a plurality of the Imperial population at over 45% in total, with Humans at 25%, Near-Humans, and Non-Near-Humans at 15% respectively. Ironically, despite being called the Terran Imperium, 55% of the population are non-Terran, however, 5% of the total population of all the demographics were in the outer rim and once the Second Galactic War ended with the Treaty of Alderaan, the Outer Rim was turned over to the Republic, decreasing Human, Near-Human, Non-Near-Human and Terran population by five percent collectively, with the new numbers at 20% for Humans, 10% Near-Humans and Non-Near-Humans respectively, turning the original 55% down to 40% non-Terran, and Terrans at 40% from the original 45% making the two groups equal in numbers.

Languages

Just like their Republic counterpart, the Imperium is truly diverse when it comes to languages, as their exist hundreds of thousands of languages across its' numerous worlds which all vary considerably from form and complexity. But most of this complexity is almost entirely due to the Terrans themselves, with the species having thousands of languages existing on their homeworld alone. Within the wider Imperium, specifically its' core regions that once made up the Terran Inner, Mid and Outer Rims, there exist tens of thousands of languages, each one ranging in complexity and uniqueness.

Religion

Like the Republic, the Imperium is just as diverse religiously, with a multitude of various religions making up the Imperial population. In this regard, the Imperium and Republic's religious makeup is one of the few things that unite them.

However, while there are similarities between the Republic and Imperium's religious makeup, for example, the Imperium's irreligious population is roughly around 55% on average, though bigger still similar to the Republic's, but when it comes to religious makeup (roughly around 45%), there can't be any more clear differences. There is no single unified religious group that's large enough to be counted as a single group, with hundreds of thousands of religions making up the religious population, thus would prevent any of them from emerging as a massive religious block in the Imperium like how the Followers of the Force has in the Republic. However, there are major religions in the Imperium, but they tend to be small in numbers and rarely go above ten percent, the only religions that do is the Followers of the Force at roughly 25%, with the other major religions following far behind them at single-digit percent, like the Abrahamic Faiths (9%), Hinduism (6%), Buddhism (4%), Bahá'í Faith (3%), and Shinto (2%), with the remaining 49% being made up of hundreds of thousands of religions and beliefs that rarely, if ever, reach 1% with nearly all making up 0.5% or lower, most of which tend to be localized religions limited to a particular planet or star system.

Government and Politics

Pre-Second Galactic War

For most of the Imperium's history, it's government was an absolute monarchy. Under the rule of it's (semi) immortal Emperor Lelouch vi Britannia, the Emperor had limitless authority over the nation and his word was law. While for much of its history, the Imperium and its' people lived with it, they began to grow increasingly disillusioned after the death of Lelouch's wife, the Empress Kallen vi Britannia. And as Lelouch became more increasingly like a dictator in his quest for vengeance against the Republic, his rule soon began hanging by a thread by the beginning of the Second Galactic War. Perhaps this element of the Imperial government was always there, as the Emperor had absolute power over the government and society as a collective whole, there was no constitution to limit what the government can and can't do. In essence, the Emperor could do whatever he deemed necessary, which meant that political and civil freedoms were severely limited in scope and government abuses were commonplace even before Empress Kallen's death, it was only after this that people started to notice and realize what their government was, a Feudalistic Absolute Monarchy with elements of Fascism.

Although the Imperium was an absolute monarchy, of which wasn't under any sort of doubt, but as to how they governed the individual planets and systems in their control was. A sort of revived feudal system was established across the Imperium, which, in turn, gave rise to the Terran Aristocracy, a part of the government controlled by the various nobles found throughout the Imperium who held power throughout the Imperium, with the Emperor and his family being above them. For most of the Imperium history, the Aristocracy was the primary means in which the Imperium was governed, with an assortment of nobles leading the planets and systems in question, and those with enough influence and power would usually make up the Imperium's advisory council to the Emperor himself, making the Imperium more in line with other Terran Empires of the ancient past than anything unique and new.

Imperial Ruling Council

Main Article: Imperial Ruling Council

While much of the actual governance of the Imperium's individual worlds and system fell into the hands of its' vast aristocracy, the running of the Imperium as a whole still fell into the hands of Lelouch, who had absolute authority in any and all Imperium-wide policy and government, yet he still need help running the Imperium, something he personally recognized before he even created the Imperium. One of his first degree as the new Emperor of the Terran Imperium was the creation of the Imperial Ruling Council, made up of all of the Imperium's ministries, government organizations, other important figures, and Lelouch's closest allies and largely overseen and run by the Viceroy of the Imperium, a position created alongside the Imperial Ruling Council to help Lelouch both run the Council and govern the Imperium as a whole, becoming his chief deputy and primary advisor.

While Lelouch practice a strict meritocratic selection process for the Council, especially for important government organizations like the ministries, Viceroyship, and other governmental organizations, there are certain parts of the Council that's more political in nature then meritocratic, with Lelouch knowing to place individuals onto the Council due to them being close political allies of his, though he rarely, if ever, give those same individuals a ministership or other governmental organization within the Imperium. Another noticeable trend is the makeup of the important governmental organizations and offices, although this is entirely unintentional on Lelouch's part. By the time of the Council's and Viceroy's dissolution, some 63% of all ministers and high ranking Government officials, as well as 70% of all Viceroys, were often members of the House of Tudor, or more commonly, the Royal House of the Imperium. However, unlike the often incompetency found within a Archduke or Archduchess's ruling councils, the competences and effectiveness of the Imperial Ruling Council is well known across the Imperium, as the only way to gain a position, especially as a minister, viceroy or other important imperial officials, is through merit, ensuring that the Imperial Ruling Council has individuals who knows how to effectively run a vast empire like the Terran Imperium.

Following the end of the Second Galactic War, the Council was largely dissolved following the reformations done to the Imperium following the ascension of Liana vi Britannia onto the throne of the Imperium, with its' ministries and important government offices being rolled into the newly established Cabinet of the Terran Imperium headed by the Prime Minister of the Terran Imperium, with what remains of the now dissolved Council being pieced together and reorganized into the Privy Council.

Post-Second Galactic War

After the death of Emperor Lelouch and the end of the Second Galactic War, his daughter, Liana vi Britannia ascended to the throne of the Imperium as Empress. Under her rule, the Imperium was much more progressive, as she didn't rule in the same manner as her father had done. She established a parliament and gave them some of the powers of the monarchy, turning the Imperium from an absolute monarchy into a constitutional monarchy giving more freedoms to its' citizens as well as rights.

However, her new government wasn't without problems, the newly found Imperial Parliament was controlled entirely by the Nationstates of Terra, which in turn gave rise to policies that benefitted the Homeworld then the wider Imperium, with the various planets and systems that make up the Imperium not having a seat in Parliament. Predictably, many across the Imperium came to believe that the Terran Aristocracy that largely governed them was now replaced by the homeworlder dominated Imperial Parliament, effectively giving them even less representation in the Imperial government than before. Along with an assortment of other issues, the Imperium dissolved into a civil war within a few years after the Imperium was restructured, most of which involved either the continuation of the monarchy or the lack representation in the Imperial Parliament. Once the civil war ended, although the monarchy was continued, the Imperial Parliament was restructured to a bicameral legislature, with one House, the Council of Nations, representing the Homeworld nationstates, and the other House, the Senate of Systems, representing the systems that make up the Imperium, giving these systems true representation in the Imperial government. While one issue was solved another still remained. The Terran Aristocracy was still in effect and while most of their powers were significantly decreased, due in part to Empress Liana's policies, the Aristocracy still has enough power to influence policies in their favor, a fact of which continued until the start of the second civil war decades later.

Military

The Imperium knew that to preserve their empire they needed to have a powerful military as well as a government. Their emphasis on military power quickly made theirs one of the largest and most powerful in the galaxy. Their military is made up of hundreds of billions of soldiers, sailors, and pilots that are divided into three main groups: Imperial Guard, Imperial Navy, and the Home Guard. Their primary function is to defend and protect the people and interests of the Terran Imperium and to eliminate their enemies both foreign and domestic.

However, though massive in size, the Imperium military limited the number of species who were allowed to enter military service. For ten thousand years, only Terrans, Humans, and near-humans were allowed into the Imperium military. While some in the Imperium may argue that this is to allow better standardization of uniforms and equipment, others have seen their limited recruitment as a rather biased form of recruitment. But after Liana's ascension to the throne as Empress, she made the Imperium military more open for other species to volunteer, though most of them volunteered for second-line duty instead of front line service.

Imperial Guard

Main Article: Imperial Guard

The Imperial Guard is the main military force of the Imperium and makes up the bulk of the Imperium military. Its infantry is highly trained, well equipped, and highly motivated. It's supported by a wide array of ground vehicles and air support units. Their soldiers are known to be very stubborn when on the defensive and very aggressive when on the offensive. During the Great Crusade, which was the Imperium's first conflict with the Galactic Republic, they surprised the galaxy by how effective, disciplined, and coordinated they were, allowing them to gain much ground during the conflict with fewer losses than their Republic counterparts.

Home Guard

The Home Guard is the part of the Imperium military that is responsible for the defense and security for the Terran Homeworlds that lie beyond Orion's Arm. They are mostly made up of the Homeworld Twenty, the twenty Imperial Military divisions that originate in the Homeworlds with the rest being made up of local militias and Imperial Navy Flotillas. The Homeworld Twenty are the most elite Imperial Guard units within the Imperial Military and can be deployed to the front line if they are needed. These units are known as the most patriotic for their homelands and will fight valiantly to keep them safe. Thus, they have acquired a fearsome reputation among the Republic forces, who dread having to encounter one of them on the battlefield.

Imperial Droid Army

Main Article: Imperial Droid Army

While the Imperium had used battle droids in its' military from its' creation, it usually had these Warbots serve a supportive role in the overall military with it still focus heavily on organic soldiers for its' military campaigns, wars, and rebellions. In 300 BTC/36K.060s and 36K.070s CE, the Imperium officially began to experiment armies of battledroids in addition to their organic forces, beit Imperial Guard, Imperial Navy or the Space Marines, however they never went beyond just support for the Imperial military but over the course of the hundred years since the Imperial governments' retreat from much of its' territories during the Great Interregnum, and this loss of territories and the resulting manpower shortages the then rump Imperial government began to seriously consider creating a new branch of the military, one made up entirely of battledroids to help addresses these issues from losing control over much of its' territories as a result of its' effective control collapsed. In 2191 ATC/38K.560 CE, the Imperial government announce the creation of the Imperial Droid Army as a wholly separate branch of the Imperial military.

Imperial Navy

Main Article: Imperial Navy

The Imperial Navy is one of the most important branches of the Imperium military. It is responsible for transporting the Imperial Guard and supporting it during its campaigns. Their other primary role is to engage enemy warships in space combat. Imperium ships have always remained similar in design. But following the Imperium's acquiring of the allegiance of the Banking Clan, Corporate Alliance, Techno Union, Commerce Guild, Zann Consortium, and Trade Federation, they have officially adopted their warships into their fleets, providing much-needed firepower to the Imperial Navy.

Space Marines

Main Article: Adeptus Astartes

Perhaps the most well known (and well feared) aspect of the Imperial Military, the Adeptus Astartes, more commonly known as the Space Marines, are the Imperium first and last line of defense. They are both the Imperium's most elite fighting force, as well as a highly capable strike force rolled into one. These supersoldiers are veiled in secrecy with the manner to make them a government secret both before and after the Second Galactic War. Nonetheless, the Space Marines have become something of a symbol for the Imperial, not just its' military might, but also the dread it puts into the hearts of the Imperium's enemies, especially the Republic, whoms standing order when dealing with a Space Marine amounting to focus fire on them and them alone.

Economy

Main article: Economy of the Terran Imperium

Pre-Second Galactic War

The Imperium has a feudalistic capitalistic mixed economy which is fueled by abundant natural resources, high productivity, a massive industrial base, and an equally massive consumer base. While the Imperium has a massive economy, which has been used to fund the Imperium's massive military, its overall economy power has continuously dwarfed by the Republic's economy by a factor of ten, something that the Imperium could never truly overcome during the entirety of the Cold War between the two vast superpowers, which in turn allowed the Republic to overturn the Imperium's military process by the end of the cold war, although it was by a bare margin.

The nominal GDP and IWI of the Imperium is estimated to be around 5.178 Septillion Credits and 189 Septillion Credits before the Second Galactic War, falling woefully behind the Republic's GDP and IWI which took around 52.178 Septillion Credits and 653 Septillion Credits but still overshadows the Confederacy's GDP and IWI at 435.2 Sextillion Credits and 926 Sextillion Credits. While this certainly does allow the Imperium to be the galaxy's second most powerful economy, they were still insignificant compared to the economic superpower of the galaxy, their political and military rivals, the Galactic Republic.

One would think that after the Great Crusade the Imperium would have a vibrant and strong economy and would stay that way for much of its' history, as it now controlled most of the resource-rich outer-rim and developed Terran worlds by 6353 BTC/30K.016 CE, which did not occur, why? Possibly the reason why the Imperium economy rarely developed at all could be due to its' social and political policies. For much of the Imperium's history, its' society and government were operated under a Neo-Feudalist system, which wealthy elites and aristocrats made all the decisions in the Imperium as a whole, with each planet divided between numerous Nobles that often held most of the wealth on their planet. That's not to say that there weren't a middle-class in the Imperium, there were, as the Emperor's Imperial policies ensured that the common people were treated well in a manner similar to the ancient German Empire of the late 345th and early 346th century BTC/late 19th and early 20th century CE, but compared to that of the Republic's middle-class, the Imperium's middle-class wasn't nearly as stable nor as strong, with more poor citizens located in the Imperium than the Republic, with some regions having an impoverished rate at over 35 percent of the total population, though the rate Imperium wide was at around 5 to 6 percent, once again, large compared to the Republic's rate at around 2 to 1 percent.  Another thing that could explain why the Imperium's economy wasn't as strong as the Republic could be its' relatively low tax rate on the wealthy and corporations, while it does help allow various companies to move to the Imperium to conduct their business, the overall effect on local economies are often limited or nonexistent, though certain industries, like Health-care and Transportation, are nationalized entirely. Then there are the negative side effects to this sort of fairly laissez-faire economic policy also sees an overall limited or lack of regulations on the economy as a whole, while allowing businesses to grow and prosper, it often came at the expense of the workers in those industries, as well as to allow sentient-made disasters to worsen considerably, even disasters that are preventable. 

Education

Main article: Education in the Terran Imperium

Like many post-industrial, heavily automated states in the galaxy, the Republic's education system is developed not to put students into the workforce as quickly as possible, instead, it's designed to try and get students ready to enter college to get a degree that best suits them.

In a manner similar to the Republic, the Imperium's education system is devolved matter, with each planet and system having a nearly separate education system with their own ministries of education. However, there is some uniformity within the Imperium's education system, one of which is a set of guidelines and standards set by the Imperial Ministry of Education, through its' enforcement is notably laxer than that of the Republic's, and the enforcement of an Imperium-wide uniform system consisting of a white suit or sweater vest, black shoes, black shirt and white tie, which is more evenly enforced Imperium wide. Children across the Imperium are required to attend school from the age of five (Elementary or Kindergarten) until the age of 18 (Highschool), however, some planets are known to allow students to leave schooling at age 15 to 16.

Students are typically arranged into year groups, where they stay in for the rest of their schooling years. However, they are often placed into specialized classes based on the skills they excel in, often in the form of a specialized test taken before they enter high school, allowing the students to further develop their skills for the next four years.

Private schools and universities are legal in the Imperium but often are regulated enough to ensure that the private schools in question follow the same guidelines and standards as their public counterparts. Typically private schools and universities are attended by the Imperium's elites, be they the wealthy or the nobility, making up over 85% of the total attendance for most private schools across the Imperium. The average Imperial cost per student is around 100 thousand credits, with over 92% of Imperial college students attending public universities after primary schools

Colleges and universities are publicly funded and free to the average Imperial citizen, which includes expenses, paid in full by Imperial taxes. But unlike the Republic, the Imperium has competing Public and Private colleges, but typically Imperial citizens attend their local community colleges or public university than a private college due to the cost to attend them. The Imperium is the galaxy's second in having renowned colleges and universities, like Yale University, Cambridge University, and the University of Tokyo only falling short of the Republic

Before the Treaty of Alderaan and the crowning of Liana, Imperial schools used subtle methods of propaganda in their education, largely to ensure that the citizens of the Imperium remain loyal to the Throne and government, however, the effectiveness of these programs vary per region and per species with regions that's been the blunt of varies Imperial abuses often not fully agree to imperial doctrine and Non-Terrans typically skeptical of official Imperial doctrines of Terran exceptionalism, often viewing it as a watered-down version of Terran Supremacy. But following the reforms to the Imperial government, this policy of propaganda was cut.

Health

The average life expectancy of the Imperium is 150 years at birth for the majority of its' history for Human, Terran, and most other Near-Human and Terran Offshoot species. Various other species varied as to how much longer or shorter their lifespans can be but often times, they are between 140 to 120 years at the low end and 2500 years on the high end and among them varied as well between Force-sensitives and non-Force-sensitives with Force-sensitives living fifty years longer than their species normal lifespans.

Healthcare in the Imperium has been a publicly funded and devolved policy since its' creation, with all aspects of healthcare provided at the point of service for all its citizens. Although all Imperial citizens automatically enrolled in the Imperial Health Service at birth, Imperial citizens can freely purchase additional private healthcare as well, but regardless the Imperium provides healthcare to its' citizens through taxes.

During the Great Interregnum the average lifespan of Imperials citizens dropped considerably, dropping from 150 to 75 years, a full 50% decrease as a result of much of Imperial services being lost when the Imperial government retreated from the majority of its' territories for centuries. But within the territories still held by the Imperial government the lifespan of its' citizens are still 150 years because Imperial services are still provided to its' citizens.