To Do list

List of stuff that still has to be written:

• Economy

• Industry
• Agriculture
• Welfare state

• Education
• Healthcare

• Tourism
• Currency

• Defense forces
  
• Space program
  
• Political structure

• Diplomacy

• Environment
  
• Flag
  
• More detailed map
  
• Calendar system
  

Chronicles of Soviet Limburg

Pre-2572 : The early years

The Soviet Limburgian solarsystem was firstly discovered in 2246 by the legendary work of the explorer Charles Ipshic, but it is a bit of course from the big interstellar trading lanes and thusly nobody payed attention on the system for quite a while and was cataloged as "System AFG5676-786", some nameless stardust on the outskirts of the galaxy... This changed in 2536 when a group of scientists thought that the fourth class L2 planet was ideal for a basecamp for conducting research on the then newly discovered Quandinium, the 287th element, that was in vast supply in this system.

2572 - 2650 : Early colonisation

The research of the Quandinium project was declassified in 2570 and it didn't took the big mining corporations very long to figure out the real potential of the stuff. Valtore corp was then one of the biggest mining corporations in the region and got monopoly rights to establish a colony on the fourth planet, which could be easely terraformed. in 2572 the mining colonies Limburgensia, Adalea and Theara where established, the planet was given the name Tholus and hundreds of thousands of people migrated, lured by the spectacular promises of Valtore corp of adventure and easy money and started a new life on the desert like planet...

2650 - 2726 : The uprising

Although the economy was booming and the orders to get Quandinium could barely be met by Valtore corp, living conditions in the colonies was terrible: life was restricted in city domes and if you wanted to get outside, you were delivered to the extreme cold and harsh climate of the planet. Besides that Valtore corp was really exploiting the miners to the extreme: they only got 150 credits on average per month (750 was normal in that era and compares to 450 and 2250 credits now respectively), barely enough to life from and conditions progressed to worsen to secure the ever more demanding need for profit for Valtore corp. Strikes and demonstrations were not uncommon in this era and gave a rich feeding ground for the in 2643 founded NeoCommunistic Party of Tholus. Under the leadership of the wise chairman Alex Zyntus the party grow exponentially: from just 500 members in 2662 to 50 000 in 2670, 250 000 in 2680 and 1 million in 2690. Zyntus did fight for the right cause, let there be no mistake, but he essentially didn't believe in the revolution and therefor the party never organised the masses for a throwover. Even stronger, in the revolt of 2692 old Zyntus even deliberatelly sabotaged the the organising workforces. He got kicked out of the party for that little action, but it was already too late: we lost the momentum for a revolution; thousands where massacred in the reaction of the ruling elite and the party collapsed to just over 1000 members. It was calm on the front of the class struggle for a long while: the next big wave of strikes and demonstrations only breaked through the oppressive police forces in 2718. The peacefull july demonstration of that year was brutally smashed down by the army and police. Tens of thousands were killed, but it didn't stop the revolutionary movement, it only strengthened it. Black July, as it became known in the anals of history, paved the way for the revolution of 2726.

2726 - 2732 : Revolution and the civil war

By 2726 the state forces were seriously weakened by the constant strikes, so the state simply didn't have the means to uphold such a large oppressive machinery. The young (just 27 at the time) Niki Cartes, which was chairman of the NCPT for just over two years used his new and young dynamic ideas to exploit the situation of the weakened state and have a swift and clear take over from power. But Valtore corp send in reinforcements from nearby systems, which started the devastating civil war which would eventually last for 6 years. At the end of which Valtore corp was just slipping from power, whatever she throwed against the people. So on january the 35th (on the old calendar a year on Tholus lasted for 452 days, each day having 25 hours and 32 minutes) Valtore corp unleashed three 50 megaton nukes on the three colonies, killing almost all (99,8%) of the population, just 100 000 survived before the UN finally decided to took action and demanded that Valtore corp to immediately leave the planet.

2732 - 2775 : The rebuilding

Directly after the UN placed Tholus under a protectorate (a very drastic measure, meaning that no one can permanently migrate to the planet), the neocommunists immediately consolidated power, renamed the planet Soviet Limburg (since Limburgensia was the only colony left that had survivors) and started a massive rebuilding program (there wasn't much else to be done), this was progressed rather quickly because the Quandinium mines were now in the hands of the socialists and they used the profits to build schools that could be attended by anyone free of charge, a high quality healthcare system, a big infrastructural network and invested more in the terraforming process, which by now began to shape the planet into something breatheble; although conditions where still a bit harsh, you could now live outside the domes. By 2775 the rebuilding was considered complete and with a population of almost 250 000 again the society was booming. However, the more society progressed its socialistic democracy, the more the people became inward. They continued to trade (read: sell Quandinium) to the rest of the galaxy, but they didn't want to lift the protectorate. As a consequence Soviet Limburg became somewhat isolationistic, since it couldn't join the UN and traders where not really welcomed. This attitude is somewhat understandable, given the extreme agressiveness of Valtore corp in the past, and the fear for the galactic scene became an integral part of Soviet Limburgs culture for a long time to come.

2775 - 2915 : The stagnant period

This inwardness had a serious and unwanted effect on the development of society: because the planet was heavely economical dependant on the Quandinium export, the state bureaucracy used that situation to establish its power. Although not as oppressive as for example the ancient Stalinistic "Soviet Union" back in the 20th century on Earth, it certainly was a blockade for further democratisation of society; without the state dying away, the socialistic economy simply couldn't progress any further. So the money economy has been largely intact up until this day.

2915 - 2928 (current) : Crisis and progress

There were long time rumors that the Quandinium reserves were exaggerated, over time more and more geologists claimed that the supply was running out and up until 2912 the government simply denied that problem. But when they finally opened their eyes and began some moderate economic reforms to get away from the Quandinium dependance, it was already too late: in 2915 the production hit its peak and went sharply down (up to 5% per year) from that moment. This created not only an economical crisis, but also a political one: the basis of power on which the bureaucratic elite depended so long on was gone and the local soviets were demanding more power. This led eventually to the (largely) peacefull political revolution of 2918: large amounts of state power were transferred from the bureaucratic caste on the top, to the soviets on the bottom. This effectively created a recursive federation with the local soviets in full power and only giving higher echelons limited power, like for infrastructural projects or defense forces. This revolution also entailed a clear cut from the isolationist policies of the last centuries and the debate began how we could integrate ourselves into the (socialistic part of the) galactic community. After long and intense debates, the federation in 2925 finally decided to establish a Soviet of Foreign Affairs, lift the protectorate, recently (july) joined the Soviet Union and also the UN (expected in january, but accepted in august), all to protect its interests (don't let anyone like Valtore corp invade again) and to progress the revolution outside of it's borders.

Planet Map