History of the Liamist States
The History of the Liamist States is divided into five Eras, spanning some 2500 Liamist years, which is equivalent to around 2 RW Standard years.
Contents
Calendar
To understand Liamist history, you first must have an understanding of how they tell the time. It is essentially the Common Calendar rounded out to round metric numbers:
- 1 sec = 0.3456 NS seconds
- 100 secs = 1 tick = 0.576 NS minutes
- 100 ticks = 1 beat = 0.96 NS hours
- 25 beats = 1 day
- 1 day = 1 NS solar day
- 1 cycle = 10 days
- 1 month = 5 cycles
- 1 year = 10 months
For every thousand years of Liamist history, approximately 1300 NS solar years pass and 1.25 RW years. Due to nature of reality in the NS dimension, time has some very unusual behaviour, more sinusoidal than linear.
Pre Liamist Era (Yr 0 – 928)
The first era of the Liamist States history. This is generally defined as being between the arrival of Liam and the final victory at the Battle of Edinburgh in 928.
Liam’s Arrival (Yr 0)
Originally, Liam was nothing more than an average RW teenager…of sorts. After a particularly horrendous break-up at age 15, Liam decided that it was time to leave that world. Rather than taking suicide, Liam pushed through his knowledge of physics and extended the boundaries of science and mathematics for his time and made real what many thought was impossible. He created a time machine. The idea was to travel back in time and establish an empire. He would only push certain things in certain directions at various times (the original plan was to show up yearly and deal with major issues that cropped up each year and let his government deal with the trivial matters), so that he would have established a huge powerbase by Renaissance or so and would be able to live, rolling around in his own power. Of course, he was not that brilliant and made a silly error. Rather being flung backwards in time in his own world, he was flung sideways in the space-time continuum (he mistook an m vector for an l vector). Rather than waking up, several thousand years in the RW past, he was translated to an alternate dimension, the NS dimension. As you’ll see, Liam had never really travelled in time and was stuck in RW time, while occupying NS space.
The Barbaric Age (Yr 0 – 145)
The place he landed was completely uncivilised. The human population was sparse and what culture there was based around hunter-gatherer nomadic tribes. Liam was delighted. He though he had found his goal. It was much later, during The Expansionist Age, that he realised he wasn’t in the RW dimension, but he had landed somewhere near the modern LS Town Canton. He found the nearest tribe and worked his way in as a god. With his outlandish clothing, extremely pale skin and really weird looking time machine, it was not difficult for the tribe to be overcome. He became a leader of them, teaching them English, science and arts. Luckily, Liam had studied a number of other things outside of physics and maths, planning on using modern technology to give his new people a massive edge. His first plan was to settle them down and get them farming. With the founding of LS Town in 145, this was bound to happen.
The Agrarian Age (Yr 145 – 785)
With a permanent supply of food and the domestication of the ever useful Marmaduke, Liam moved on with his plans. He created a city on the banks of the Liamist Junction, centred around NS’s first university. It was here he educated the first great minds, the power behind what would become a huge empire. He would create an intellectualist culture, establishing a tradition that would inevitably serve his desire for power. It was somewhere around here that he noticed the odd effects on time, primarily generations seemed to flick past and Liam seemed to only age by days. This, it is thought, reinforced the Liamist religion – which Liam didn’t do anything to stop.
Stability was a major key for the Agrarian Age. Philosophers, scientists and artists could study in peace while knowing that the workers could provide food for them. Other local tribes found out about this city and joined it, swelling its ranks. As Liam abhorred war, all disputes were settled peaceably, until he went on a rampage during the Unifying Age. 785 saw the newly formed Liamist armies move out of sight of LS Town and into neighbouring territory.
The Unifying Age (Yr 785 – 928)
Establishing a military decked out in steel, when most of the of the locals were in copper at best, he spread out over the modern City de Liam District, offering a chance to submit to the Liamist States or be crushed. Many did decide to just submit, accept the luxuries of civilisation and were treated as well as the normal Liamists were. He ordered the newly absorbed tribes to establish cities all across the District. The cities were, of course, based upon sustainable development designs and were as entirely environmentally friendly as was possible. Of course, some were too stubborn to submit and were brutally annihilated.
After taking a firm grasp of the District, made especially easy with the fast and reliable Marmaduke Mail service (Marmadukes were trained to read and deliver mail, even over long distances – faster than a person and horses had never really been domesticated by Liamists) established, Liam turned his intentions elsewhere. He swiftly moved through the Fairbank tribes, bringing them under Pax Liamus or facing a brutal end. Having conquered the continent in mere NS decades, Liam looked to the seas and spread his tentacles of power out across the Junction, Straits and Waterway, moving his armies out across Trenport, the Greater Liamist States and Gradburg. Adali proved problematic as the fanatical tribes more often than not, refused submission and were slaughtered. This is the explanation given for the low population in Adali today. The fertile farmlands on the northern side of the Montana Ranges were an important capture. Now Liam had enough farmlands to fed his fledgling empire and after wiping out the final few barbarian tribes in the south, particularly in the area which has now been shifted to Edinburgh, Liamton, whose guerrilla tactics had proven a nightmare so far, the Liamist States were established.
Holy Empire Era (Yr 928 – 1046)
After the establishment of the Liamist States across the four continents, the Liamist religion became a dominant force for control, leading to the establishment of the Holy Empire, which soon collapsed as atheism filtered through.
The Rise (Yr 928 - 1012)
With the establishment of the Liamist States, Liam searched for a method of firm control of his new nation. His study of history proved that religion would probably suffice, although it may well come back to bite him in the ass. Liam performed a number of miracles in his first city, now named LS Town, designed to prove his godliness. Rumours were sent out across the land providing a nice effect. The power of his religion was at its weakest in LS Town, radiating out stronger to the farthest provinces as the rumours mutated and became more potent. However, the closer people were to the centre of power, they more under Liam’s influence they were anyway. The net result was roughly the same amount of power Empire-wide. The Holy Empire provided the same stability that the Agrarian Age brought but with less technical and more philosophical focus. Civil rights hadn’t been invented yet, so people didn’t really mind the stringent controls.
The Fall (Yr 1012 – 1046)
The Liamists, like their leader, are a bunch of cynical smartasses. They eventually wised up to the act, as rumours of Liam bullshitting started to outweigh the effects of the miracles. People were fine toward the leadership but sick of the crappy religion and sacrifices (including the giving of hot, young daughters to the leader). The Liamist States’ first protests were recorded in the cities in modern Bordeaux. They were soon joined by others from across the Empire. Facing a major insurrection, Liam was forced to end the theocracy and establish a different kind of leadership before the radicals calling for his head got any support. In 1046, Liam stepped down as Pope and God of the Liamist Church (in his resignation speech, Liam declared what many had suspected: he was actually just a lost time traveller. The maths and physics of the Liamist States was advanced enough to know about the concept for a while but calculus wasn’t developed enough for second order differentials which were really important in the original setup) and declared himself King of the Liamist States. Many actually denied the speech was factual and maintained their faith, despite the insistence of Liam.
Kingdom Era (Yr 1046 – 1820)
The "Middle Ages" of the Liamist States and the longest Era, after the Pre Liamist times. It’s here, after the collapse of the Holy Empire and before the Democratisation of the Liamist States, that the Liamist people defined themselves.
The Dark Age (Yr 1046 – 1374)
During the shift in bureaucracy from a Holy Empire to a Kingdom, which involves dropping a lot of priests and finding a lot of nobles (and usually priests would just become the new nobility), the Liamist States slipped. Nothing seemed to be happening. Indeed, a lot of the progress made during the Holy Empire Era was lost under an influx of stymied thinkers. Some were even claiming that everything had been done and, as far as anyone in the Liamist States knew, this may well have been true. Here, Christianity, Islam and minor religions found a footing as many people floundered philosophically. While the religions failed to really capture the imagination of the Liamists, they still impacted on the landscape, contributing even more to the Dark Ages feel of the place. For over 300 years, Feudalism entrenched itself in Liamist society with the conservative nobility at the top and the poor serfs at the bottom. What was required was a revolution of sorts. Usually a war would do it but the Liamists had not fought since the Battle of Edinburgh during the Unification and weren’t going to start now. Liam himself provided the spark in 1374: electricity. A simple coal electric generator unleashed huge potential for industry and general life. Liam said at the time that it could only be used if scientists worked their asses off trying to find a better method of generation.
The First Golden Age (Yr 1374 – 1733)
With coal power, the Liamist States kicked everything up a gear. Science started to take the first steps forward in centuries, which were followed by leaps and bounds. The Liamist States returned to a more egalitarian, intellectualist social system that the people were more used to. The Liamists often had problems remembering their place under Feudalism. Capitalism sprung up, replacing the Liam-controlled economic system that had been in place. He always claimed that he couldn’t wait for Capitalism to come in as it was way too much work running a huge nation and its economy and, besides, he had a great idea for a motto that wouldn’t make sense otherwise. For the first time, people worked for themselves, tapping into that anti-social greed which would inevitably drive society forward faster than compassion and kindness would. Gunpowder made its appearance on the science scene in 1733, signalling an end for the First Liamist Golden Age and bringing forth a darker time of confusion, rioting, death and destruction.
The Democratising Age (Yr 1733 – 1820)
It took nearly a century of internal war to go from the First Golden Age to one of the darkest times in Liamist history and back to a place where the nation could again rebuild itself.
With the recent Golden Age, people felt that democracy would suit them better than the liberal dictatorship that Liam used to run his nation. Up until now, there was no Constitution governing the nation. A small minority of violent democrats decided now was the time to rise up against the dictatorship, no matter how mythical or indeed, well it had run the place for the last 1700 years, and establish a democracy. With the advent of gunpowder, this was closer than ever.
The violent democrats began Rioting (note the capital R). Rioting involves a lot of burning buildings (mostly businesses – chain fast food outlets are a favourite – and religious institutions), innocents being murdered, marching and slogan shouting and general mayhem. With this external pressure, Liam yielded. He drafted a Constitution and once it was generally accepted by the pressure groups, it was put up to a referendum, the nation’s first election.
Feeling no longer needed and, indeed, homesick, Liam decided it was time to pack his bags and head back to his own space-time dimension. In a strange turn of events, and no one knows how for sure, Liam was convinced to stay on as an adviser for his government. Many were pleased at the change of heart and most political groups welcomed the support. The first bill passed by the Federal Government of the Liamist States was one cementing Liam as the Head of State.
Reforming Era (Yr 1820 - 2174)
Drunk with their own power, the new democratic government of the Liamist States, set about reforming the Liamist States. However, many historians doubt it could have been achieved without Liam’s help.
The Expansionist Age (Yr 1820 – 1850)
It was decided in 1820 that now was the time for the Liamist States to reach out internationally. Ideally, this would foster trade growth and cultural exchanges between the States and its colonial outposts’ regions. Using a dizzying amount of manpower and an inconceivable number of megajoules of electricity, the Greater Liamist States was split into two: a Western half designed to be split again into component cities and an Eastern half that would remain as a semi-District. In the Western half were the Cantons of Liamopolis, Liamton, Liamburg, Liamograd, Liamistan, Liam Island and Liamshire which were distributed at will through the world. Not having had much of an excuse to leave their shores before (in fact, much of the Liamist States coast was not even charted properly – the results shocked Liam. He could recognise none of the formations and realised he was a very long way from the American Kansas), the Liamists discovered that there was a great big world out there. The cartography industry exploded and hit its highest levels of business ever. With a new surge in other areas due to the new opportunities, the sky seemed the limit.
It, however, was not. Finding suitable locations for these new colonies proved exceedingly difficult. Getting between colonies and the States was also difficult, even with the Liam-introduced advent of flight. In the 1840s, it was clear only two colonies were succeeding: Liamopolis and Liamton, which remain in their respective regions today. The remaining five colonies were brought back to the Greater Liamist States, mostly using up the money made in the previous two decades. Many deemed this experiment a draw and proved that more thought needed to be put into things before undertaken.
The Technological Revolution (Yr 1850 – 1940)
The next ninety years were dominated by technological advancements. The government had seen the value of scientific research in a number of previously ignored fields, which included physics, maths and engineering. Up until recently, the stability necessary for intellectualism had been uprooted under the last 120 years of social change.
This revolution brought about two massive discoveries: nuclear power and computers. Many were shocked by the sheer number of new fields opening up. With nuclear power and weapons, the Liamists now had energy to burn and power to protect themselves. With computers, many menial tasks which had been costing time and money were quickly replaced by the new electronic thinking machines. The pace of technological development leapt ahead again, brining further discoveries. However, the environmental impact was beginning to show on the Liamist States as resources began to be used, wasted, destroyed or polluted. Yet another social change was required, particularly if new computer population models were correct and the States would have to endure the weight of billions of Liamists.
The Urban Revolution (Yr 1940 – 2020)
Urbanisation was the answer. Liam again stepped in and led the social charge. Up until this revolution, Liamists lived in settlements varying from hamlets to small towns. This was to be changed. Starting with the smallest settlements, Liam gathered the people up and shifted them to their new urban homes. It was a shock to many systems but it was insisted that this was the only way. Huge metropolises sprung up over night, saving countless resources and freeing up others (small towns could be recycled into its constituent lumber, metals and so on). Suddenly living with millions of their fellow Liamists, the distances that formerly prevented a proper exchange of ideas, money and research were evaporated and the Liamists headed again to new dizzying heights of prosperity. Eventually, the inertia of social change grew so great that the government no longer needed to support it and now many Liamists claims they prefer an Urbanist lifestyle to a dirty rural one. See Urbanism for more details.
The Second Golden Age (Yr 2020 – 2174)
Modern Era (Yr 2174 - Present)
The Separatist Age (Yr 2174 – 2279)
Splitting of Districts
The Reunification (Yr 2279 – 2332)
Coming back together again
The Tableland Age (Yr 2332 – Present)
Internationalism
