The Inviting to History
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The Inviting to History: Advanceing in the Galaxy (The Modan History) is a documentary film, presented by historian D. Sinclair, which details the period of time between the rise of Rudolf von Goldenbaum's Galactic Empire and Lin Pao's defeat of Grand Duke Herbert at the start of the Alliance–Imperial War.
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Synopsis
Sinclair opens the film with the 2801 CE (1 UC) establishment of the Galactic Federation and the Golden Age of Humanity which ensued. It describes the rise of space pirates in the wake of the conflict between Earth and the Sirius Republic, leading to a subsequent expansion of the Federation Armada. A period of stagnation followed, with human social and scientific progress coming to a halt.
Ideological historian E.J. Mackenzie presents the argument that the complacency and decadence associated with this time period were in part brought about by the decline of religion following the unification of Earth. As humans realised that no divine being would save them, Mackenzie argues, they became filled with hopelessness.
This period of social 'illness' coincided with the life of Rudolf von Goldenbaum. In 288 UC (3088 CE), Goldenbaum ruthlessly eradicated the Main Street Pirates, earning wide-spread praise within the Federation. Eight years later, Goldenbaum retired and went into politics. He quickly gained a cadre of supporters and came to wield significant influence in Parliament as the leader of the National Reform Alliance, which rapidly extended its influence with each election. Soon after, Goldenbaum was declared prime minister by referendum and elected president by Parliament — an unprecedented concentration of power which went against the unwritten expectation that the two posts not be held concurrently. However, the Federation's constitution did not explicitly forbid it, and at length he became an absolute dictator.
Goldenbaum announced the foundation of the Galactic Empire, and his ascension to the throne of Emperor, in 310 UC (1 IC / 3110 CE). Gradually, Rudolf placed more and more restrictions on people's lives, and in 318 UC (9 IC / 3118 CE) he announced the infamous Inferior Genes Exclusion Act, which not only abolished social welfare, but went as far as prescribing forced sterilisation and euthanasia of those considered 'weak'.
This prompted an outcry from citizens and republican politicians alike; in response, Rudolf permanently dissolved Parliament. In addition, he established a Department of Social Discipline, headed by Ernst Falstrong, to carry out arrests, imprisonment, and other punishment of political criminals. These punishments were not executed according to law, however, but by personal whim — no burden of proof was required. An age of terrorist government followed, with many citizens executed, forced to take drugs or undergo lobotomies, or let to die of illness in prison. The total of citizens so affected amounted to four billion.
Following this, Rudolf established a new class of aristocrats — the nobility — to support his imperial house. Falstrong was one of those elevated to this status, but he was killed on the way home that night by a republican bomb. In retaliation, Rudolf executed 20,000 people as co-conspirators in the attack.
Rudolf died in 351 UC (42 IC / 3151 CE) at the age of 83, having left no male heir. (His favourite mistress, Magdalena, is said to have given birth to a son, but he was congenitally disabled, and all those connected to his birth were sentenced to death.) Instead, the crown passed to the 25-year-old Sigismund I, son of his eldest daughter.
At this opportunity, a series of democratic rebellions broke out across Imperial territory. These were swiftly put to rest by Sigismund's father, Joachim von Neue Stauffen — who deftly commanded the soldiers, politicians, and nobles that Rudolf had acquired ties to — and more than 500 million participants in the uprisings were executed. An additional 10 billion relatives and associates were stripped of their rights and reduced to serfdom.
In 473 UC (164 IC / 3273 CE), Arle Heinessen, a serf who had been sentenced to hard labour on the seventh planet of the Altair Starzone, began constructing a vessel out of dry ice. This vessel, the Ion Fazekath, eventually led 400,000 serfs to a nameless planet overlooked by the Empire; from here, they constructed eighty interstellar ships and set off towards unexplored space. In the course of their journey, Heinessen died in an accident; however, his successor and best friend, Nguyen Kim Hua, was able to see the trip to its completion. After locating a suitable planet, which they named Heinessen, the 160,000 remaining serfs founded the Free Planets Alliance in 527 UC (218 IC / 3327 CE).
Over the course of the next century, the Alliance population increased, and the golden age of the Galactic Federation seemed to have re-emerged. Then, in 640 UC (331 IC / 3440 CE), the Empire and the Alliance made their first contact. Emperor Friedrich III sent Grand Duke Herbert to subjugate the Alliance, but the combined prowess of Alliance Supreme Commander Lin Pao and Chief of Staff Yūsuf Topparol led to the Imperial fleet's swift defeat at the Battle of Dagon.
A period of intermittent war between the two nations followed.
The film closes with a brief history of Fezzan, an autonomous dominion of the Empire, which served as a diplomatic and economic link between the two nations during this time. This position afforded it great influence over both nations. (LOGH: 'Julian's Journey, Mankind's Journey')
Reception
Wanting to re-immerse himself in the history of humanity, Julian Mintz watched The Inviting to History on his way to Heinessen in 798 UC (489 IC / 3598 CE). (LOGH: 'Julian's Journey, Mankind's Journey')
Appendices
Appearances
- LOGH:
- 'Julian's Journey, Mankind's Journey' (only appearance)
Name variations
- The Inviting to History: Advanceing in the Galaxy (The Modan History) (DVD documentary title)
- The Inviting to History: Advancing in the Galaxy (The Modan History) (LD documentary title)
