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| Capital: | Halifax | |||||||
| Language: | English | |||||||
| Type of Government: | Social Democracy | |||||||
| Organizations: | Communist International | |||||||
The People’s Republic of Halifax is, after the withdrawal of Judea from the Communist International, the third most powerful member of the Conseil-dominated alliance and an old haven for communist and other dissident Americans escaping Coalition control. Although it controls only four systems with a population over a billion, Halifax has made an impact through its competent armored divisions aiding the Conseil in their war.
History[]
The PRH’s origins stem from the pre-Collapse era, when a group of miners in the far-off Halifax system revolted against the United Americas Corporation running the operation there. A democratic government, with strong socialist overtones, was founded. The Haligonian rebels had the luck of not being found out because of the Phobos Crisis sending United Americas into near bankruptcy. Not wanting to panic their stockholders even more, United Americas never reported the rebellion. During the chaos of the Collapse, knowledge of the system’s very existence was wiped out. It was only during the Endless War, when commanders working for the National Conservative Party were scouting out potential hideouts, that Halifax was rediscovered. They planned to reclaim the system in the name of their new Coalition, but knowledge of the system was leaked out to the National Conservative Party’s rivals. When the war turned against them, these parties fled to the PRH, which reluctantly welcomed them after being warned of a coming invasion. Because of the system’s relative proximity to the Conseil Systems, the Coalition eventually decided it was not worth it and left the system to its own devices. The People’s Republic eventually forged an alliance with the Conseil Systems, its factories helping rebuild the war-torn superpower. Halifax would eventually come back into importance through its short cold war with New Rome. The two states, competing over the Cardigan system, came close to war several times. The dispute was ended by equal division of the system’s resources between the two powers.
Government[]
The modern PRH still has some trappings of its democratic past. The Socialist Party, which abides by communism under Soviet as opposed to Dijonist tradition, has actual competition from the more “moderate” Democratic Party. The Democrats were originally a free market party, but became more and more socialist as time went on. Instead, their differentiation from the Socialists came from their strong hawkish platform, nationalist rhetoric, greater involvement in the Communist International and desire to spread communism across the stars. However, these parties do not truly compete in a democratic fashion; instead, the Premier chooses ministers who can run for office (and, in practice, who wins office). The Premier himself is normally a moderate who is skilled enough to manipulate both parties into giving him power. The Socialists and Democrats are also the only legal political parties and are legally required to be socialist. Dissent is rewarded with being thrown into Halifax’s mental health system, where political dissidents and the genuinely psychotic are placed into “hospitals” that are for all intents and purposes dungeons. Halifax has its issues with religiously motivated terrorism, especially after the Haligonian government banned religion (not counting the Dijonist cult as a religion). Because of this, those professing religious belief suffer the same fate as their politically-motivated counterparts.
Military[]
Halifax’s greatest contribution to the Communist International is its armored divisions, which combined with their decent infantry is used for the straight-laced Haligonian approach to war. Halifax’s industrial past, combined with the massive influx of Imperial weaponry after the Endless War, has allowed Halifax to manufacture tanks that rival the Coalition’s in the battlefield. The Haligonian Mark 3 has been hailed as the most balanced tank of the Galactic War and can go toe to toe with the Coalition's M4 Schuster (this has led to the development of the heavier M6 Parma in response). This has led to Conseil commanders using Haligonian armor as the speartip of any assault, which has the added benefit of letting the Haligonians soak up a lot of damage. Haligonian treatment of territories under their administration is as brutal as the other warring factions of the Galactic War. For every Haligonian wounded, a hundred civilians in the area are killed; for every Haligonian killed, a thousand are killed.