Amondiage: History

5512-5601AD The Republic

The Republic ruled all of Amondiage’s cities, and dominated its whole population for 90 years. In time it developed into a stratified bureaucracy - authoritarian, but not especially oppressive. Unified, the cities of Amondiage grew in strength and power, while the wealth and significance of the Nomads waned.

5601AD The Revolution

Corruption in the Republic’s bureaucracy was rife. Then Philippe Fouquet became the head of the civil service (effectively the Republic’s head of state). He started to introduce series of very unpopular resettlement policies. Fouquet saw the Nomads as a wasted and mis-managed resource who could not be controlled because of their constant wanderings. So he set about to introduce a series of policies to force the Nomads to move into the cities, by punitively taxing all aspects of the Nomad lifestyle.

He was warned by other members of the bureaucracy of the folly of this policy, but these dissenters soon disappeared into the deserts, never to be seen again.

With Amondiage again on the verge of civil war, the Navy decided that it was time to intervene and take control. Their first attempt failed when they were betrayed. All of the senior officers behind the conspiracy were either imprisoned or executed.

It was then that the young Jean Richelieu decided to seize the day. He was 22 years old, and captain of a naval destroyer. As the only child of a Nomad vapour farmer he had already been greatly offended by the government’s policies towards his people.

Now, he saw there was a real chance of seizing power. The governments handling of the attempted naval mutiny had alienated all of Amondiage’s armed forces. All that they requires to commit open rebellion was a leader.

Richelieu gathered around himself a group of trusted friends from all of the armed services, and the Nomad clans. Once of these was his old friend Luc Davout, who was later to become Grand Admiral of the Fleet. On the 23rd July, New Paris the capital was stormed by Marines and elements of the 3rd and 6th Armies, while the civil service was celebrating its latest reform programme.

Nomads warriors who had infiltrated the city overpowered the outer city-garrisons and the planetary defence units still loyal to the government. This allowed the rebel forces to achieve a quick penetration of the city and attack the Central Headquarters of the Republican civil service.

A salvo of missiles from Richelieu’s own destroyer levelled the HQ in thirty seconds. Fouquet, who had managed to flee the building, was captured on the outskirts by Nomads, and introduced to the hospitality of the equatorial jungle beasts.

Modern Times - The Empire

Far from introducing reforms, Richelieu instigated a form of centralised government far more extreme than any previously known on Amondiage. He declared himself Emperor, and has ruled the world as an absolute monarch ever since.

Since coming to power, Richelieu had made himself popular by a policy of scrupulous honesty and justice, and by dramatically reducing taxes. There are strict laws enshrining the rights of city-dwellers and Nomads alike to live as they choose. The corruption which plagued the Republican government has been swept away by a series of far-reaching investigations, lead by the Amondiage Intelligence Service (AIS).

Jean Richelieu’s concerns over the deteriorating political situation amongst the Islands Clusters world have lead him to develop the Amondiage Planetary Defence (APD) policy. This involved the creation of a new planetary defence system based around a series of deep meson-gun sites and the creation of the Home Defence Fleet. Richelieu has always stated a policy of non-interference in the affairs of other worlds. He is always at pains to stress that his military build up is motivated purely by self-defence. The high proportion of non-jump ships, and the large expenditure on fixed defences lends credence to this position.

All of these measures have been skillfully presented as wise and forward-looking leadership. Fears about the rise of tyranny and despotic leadership on other worlds have been used to make Richelieu one of the most popular leaders in the whole Island Clusters.