Terra
From Gineipaedia, the Legend of Galactic Heroes wiki
Earth (Japanese: 地球) is the planet on which humanity — the only known sentient life form in the universe — originated. For millennia, Earth stood at the centre or human civilisation, and served as the focal point for human politics, economics, art, and culture.
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History
Thirteen Day War
By the mid-21st century CE, the Earth had been divided between two super-powers: the United States of Eurafrica and the Northern Condominium. In 2039 CE, these two nations committed to total war, unleashing devastating thermonuclear weapons upon the planet's surface. In less than a fortnight, most major cities on the planet had been destroyed. The Earth's total population dwindled to only a billion, and the 90 years that followed were characterised by conflict and turmoil. (LOGH: 'To Earth')
United Earth Government
The United Earth Government was founded in 2129 CE, when the many fragmented nations of the devastated Earth banded together to work for a common cause. By the mid-22nd century, the UEG had succeeded in rebuilding the social, industrial, and economic infrastructure and population of Earth, ushering in a golden age of prosperity for all of mankind.
In the 23th century, the UEG began exploring options for interstellar travel. In 2253 CE, the UEG launched a massive colony ship[citation needed] towards Alpha Centauri, 4.37 light-years beyond the Earth's own star. Much to their disappointment, the vessel was never heard from again.
In 2360 CE, UEG researchers developed the warp drive. Early warp technology had dangerous side-effects for female passengers, often resulting in infertility, but the technology was finally perfected by 2391 CE.
In 2402 CE, a habitable planet was discovered in the Canopus Starzone, and humanity's first interstellar colonists departed shortly afterwards. Many other habitable planets were discovered afterwards, bringing about an era of interstellar colonisation. This sparked debate on Earth over what level of autonomy to grant fledgling colonies; ultimately the UEG established a 'Navigation Safety Department', later called the Department of Public Safety, to oversee colonisation and interstellar commerce.
By the late 27th century, the political dominance of the Humanity Congress began to wane.[clean-up needed] Dissatisfied with unfair congressional representation, a number of colonies — led by the charismatic revolutionary Carl Palgrem — rebelled against the United Earth Government. Adopting the name Sirius Revolutionary Congress after the dominant force in opposite to the UEG, the Sirius colony, the rebels declared themselves independent from the United Earth Government; this act sparked the Earth-Sirius War.
In 2689 CE, the United Earth Government's Department of Public Safety launched an invasion of the Sirius Starzone, occupying the colony on Sirius VI, Rondolina. The occupation army was extremely undisciplined, resulting in a brutal occupation, eventually culminating in the massacre of thousands of civilians in Rondolina's capital city, Laglane.
The Sirius Revolutionary Congress succeeded in liberating Rondolina after a series of victories over the undisciplined forces of the Department of Public Safety. After driving the UEG navy from Sirius, Carl Palgrem's Black Fleet headed towards Earth itself.[clean-up needed] The Earth forces made their last stand outside the solar system's main asteroid belt, but a two-month-long blockade initiated by the rebel fleet had disastrous consequences. With their supply lines cut, the weakened and starving UEG forces were unable to defend Earth from the Black Fleet. Only about a billion survivors remained on the planet when it was over. (LOGH: 'To Earth')
Era of warring states
The Sirius Revolutionary Congress fell apart soon after the destruction of Earth. The various colony worlds all formed their own nation-states and attempted to unify the scatter human settlements, with little success. After nearly a century of on-again-off-again warfare, the colony world of Theoria, located in the Aldebaran Starzone, managed to unite humanity under a second hegemony. They declared themselves the Galactic Federation, and instituted the Space Era calendar to mark a new beginning in human history — an era when Earth was no longer the focal point of humanity. (LOGH: 'To Earth')
Galactic Empire
Earth eventually gained population under the empire after centuries of population decline.[clean-up needed]
Earth Cult
The Earth Cult, also called Terraism, was a religious institution which preached the superiority of Earth and the inferiority of its former colony worlds. Though the Earth Cult had influence in its main temple and surrounding territories, most of the 415 million people on Earth did not believe in Terraism and were loyal citizens of the Empire. Some even served in the Imperal armed forces.[citation needed]
As a religion, Terraism spread quickly throughout the Empire, and — although it never achieved sufficient mass to be considered a direct threat — it managed to infiltrate every level of Imperial society. The Earth Cult was largely responsible for the creation of Phezzan as an autonomous state, and worked to perpetuate the FPA-Imperial War, accumulating a great deal of money and influence in the process. The cult's leadership hoped to manipulate the war in order to dramatically weaken both the Empire and the FPA so that they could then usurp control of the galaxy.[clean-up needed]
Appendices
Appearances
Alternative names
- Terra (DVD subtitles)
