Great Imperial Hegemony of Morbidia
Great Imperial Hegemony of Morbidia Essorg Ehcilresiak Einomegeh nov Morbidia (Creatorian) | |
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 Coat of Arms
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Motto: "May our hammers of righteousness shatter the shackles of injustice!" | |
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Anthem: Lieh Morbidia | |
 Diagram of Morbidia's territorial claims on Uingffh | |
 The Ingffhaestian System, the home system of Morbidia | |
| Capital | Stantain, Uingffh, Ingffhaestian System |
| Largest city | Luciferous, Uingffh, Ingffhaestian System |
| Official languages | Creatorian |
| Religion | State atheism |
| Demonym(s) | Morbidian |
| Government | Unitary totalitarian one-party socialist dictatorship |
• Great Hegemon | Ardosanodon Yersinaho Mortimer (1984-) |
| Legislature | Emperor |
| Establishment | April 27, 1584 |
| Population | |
• 2033 estimate | 436.93 billion |
| GDP (nominal) | 2033 estimate |
• Total | 21.8465 quadrillion Rudowerian marks ($21.8465 quadrillion USD) |
• Per capita | ~50,000 Rudowerian marks |
| Currency | Rudowerian marks |
| Today part of | Federative Planets of Polyingffhaestia |
The Great Imperial Hegemony of Morbidia, often colloquially referred to as the Morbidian Hegemony, the Great Morbidian Empire, the Morbidian Empire, Imperial Morbidia, or simply Morbidia, was an interstellar nation hailing from the moon Uingffh. At its greatest territorial extent, the Morbidian Hegemony controlled a significant portion of the Ulstonia supercontinent's western regions and held outlying colonies in a total of 24 solar systems.
Morbidia originated as part of the Kingdom of Kerolon, whose era of expansionism and colonialism granted it control of the entirety of Uingffh. After Kerolon invaded the Lordion-dominated Morbidia region, Kerolon's tabulons marginalized the Lordions and used them as forced, unpaid labor. Lordion revolts broke out over this discrimination; though initial small in scale, these revolts eventually escalated into a large-scale rebellion led by the charismatic nationalist Regalius Rilna Mortimer that culminated in the secession of the Morbidia region into an independent nation, marking the formation of the Imperial Hegemony on April 27, 1584. The island continents of Uopia and Uveerius also joined the Great Imperial Hegemony, themselves also oppressed under Kerolonian rule. After its formation, Regalius seated himself as Morbidia's supreme ruler and proceeded to shape Morbidian society into the very antithesis of Kerolonian society with the support of the people, passing legislation that upheld equality between all people as a fundamental policy. However, he also instilled extreme authoritarianism, imposing exceptionally strict punishments on those who opposed his rule and Morbidia's values. In addition, he imposed strict regulations on the economy and outlawed most forms of private businesses, keeping all production under governmental control.
As Morbidia, Kerolon, and Osuwa developed, Morbidia's relations with Kerolon improved as the latter experienced sweeping reforms in its society. However, tensions developed between it and Osuwa due to the stark contrast between their political and economic systems - while Morbidia was a socialist, dictatorial, but egalitarian nation, Osuwa existed as a democratic, capitalist, but allegedly unequal society. As such, the two nations entered a lengthy cold war where they participated in numerous arms races, proxy wars, and other subtle acts of aggression towards the other.
Beginning in the 18th Century, Morbidia developed spacefaring capabilities and transitioned into an interplanetary, then an interstellar nation; nonetheless, its cold war with Osuwa continued, manifesting as a "star race" where the two nations competed to conquer more star systems and develop these interstellar colonies better. In colonizing other star systems, Morbidia utilized methods practically opposite to those of Osuwa; while Osuwa annexed systems through diplomacy only to treat any native aliens relatively poorly, Morbidia conquered systems using brute military force and large-scale warfare, but respected their enemies' people and ensured their equal, just treatment under Morbidian law upon their annexation. Nonetheless, Morbidia was known to occasionally sacrifice natural planetary environments for industrial ventures and resource production.
The Morbidian Hegemony was a totalitarian dictatorship with all political power concentrated in the nation's Great Hegemon. Succession was hereditary, with the Great Hegemon's oldest children ascending to the position of Great Hegemon following the previous Great Hegemon's death. Morbidia was frequently criticized for its suppression of free speech and the press, widespread censorship, authoritarianism, international aggression, and militarization among other things. However, Morbidia was also noted to boast some of the strongest and most comprehensive anti-discrimination legislation on Uingffh. In addition to resorting to great lengths to ensure the equality of its different sentient species, Morbidia was also the first of the three Uingffhian nations to legalize socially progressive practices like labor union participation, abortion, same-sex marriage, gender-affirming care, etc. Morbidia held economic equality sacrosanct and practiced a command economic system with the vast majority of production falling under government control; while proponents praised this economic system for promoting economic equality, reducing worker exploitation, and ensuring access to basic needs (for instance, Morbidia offered universal healthcare and education), others - especially Osuwans - criticized it for leaving Morbidia relatively poor and underdeveloped compared to its two neighbors, promoting laziness, and inhibiting societal and technological advancement. People also criticized Morbidia for the exceptionally high tax rates it imposed upon its citizens.
Morbidia championed total species equality and implemented strict policies aimed at preventing the rise of any notion of Lordion supremacy, whether perpetrated by citizens or by institutions/systems; because of this, the Morbidian Hegemony had an extremely diverse population and culture. Though lordions dominated the nation’s region of origin, people of wide variety of species - particularly sentient species native to systems colonized by Kerolon - inhabited the nation and its many stellar colonies. This diversity was also reflected in its government; despite Morbidia’s lack of democracy compared to other nations, individuals of various non-Uingffhian species came to occupy the Hegemony’s upper military ranks and government positions.
Morbidian culture notably included a heavy emphasis on family units. Families acted as significant political and culture units in the Great Imperial Hegemony, with one’s parents and ancestors being viewed as a major indicator of one’s merit. Morbidian parents often raised their children strictly and ascetically in the hopes of fostering their children’s success and thus elevating their family name. However, Morbidia notably practiced a liberal definition of a family; non-traditional families like adoptive families and same-sex parents enjoyed as much respect as more typical heterosexual biological families.
History
Origins (pre-1578)
The Morbidia region of Uingffh was home to numerous populations of Lordion individuals native to the area; these populations had developed their own unique culture including a shared polytheistic religion. When the Kingdom of Kerolon invaded the region in the 15th Century, its tabulon population claimed the lordions’ land for themselves and sentenced the lordions themselves to slavery and forced labor, all while attempting to suppress Morbidia's native cultures.
In the mid-16th Century, Kerolon successfully conquered the entirety of Uingffh, but quickly began to fragment due to a variety of political, social, and economic instabilities. In 1576, the Unified States of Osuwa seceded from Kerolon over its criminalization of Osuwa's cultural mixing, most notably the interracial relationships between Kerolonian settlers and native Osuwans that had grown increasingly common in the region.
Regalius’ Rebellion (1578-1585)
The Osuwan Revolution's progression inspired many lordions, whom Kerolonian colonists had largely enslaved following the Morbidia region's annexation into Kerolon, to rise up and fight for their own rights. This began as intermittent slave and servant revolts across the Morbidia colony which slaveowners quickly put down; in response to the rebellions, the Kerolonians harshened their treatment of their lordion servants in order to prevent more revolts. However, this ultimately served to not only further strengthen lordion opposition, but also encourage the lordions to revolt in more creative ways.
The lordion revolts eventually culminated in the rise of Regalius Rilna Mortimer, one of the most radical lordions at the time, to public prominence in 1578. Taking advantage of the weakened state of Kerolonian law enforcement at the time thanks to instability wrought by the Osuwan Revolution, Regalius spread strong anti-Kerolonian, Morbidian separatist sentiment across the Morbidian region.
Initially, he attempted to change Kerolon from within by joining the Kerolonposium as part of his own Anti-Imperialist Natives’ Alliance (AINA) party; however, after Kerolon expelled the party in 1584, Regalius resorted to armed rebellion against Kerolon, seceding the Morbidia region into the Great Imperial Hegemony of Morbidia on April 27, 1584. The subsequent Morbidian Revolutionary War proved short-lived - lasting only until 1585 - but devastating, claiming the lives of hundreds of thousands of soldiers and resulting in the destruction of many properties including the entire colonial capital Kerolonian colonists had erected on the site of the major Morbidian city of Stantain.
The revolutionary war ultimately ended with Kerolon recognizing Morbidia’s independence as well as the Uveerius and Uopia island continents also seceding into Morbidia. The latter secession solidified Morbidia as a force of justice for not only lordions, but also any and all cultures oppressed by Kerolonian imperialism. Contrary to Osuwa, however, Morbidia would debelop an autocratic system of government as well as a total command model of economics.
Imperialization and Socialization of Morbidia (1590-1600)
Morbidia spent the first ten Earth years following the Revolutionary War solidifying the political, social, and economic structures of Morbidian society. This consisted of imperialization - the shaping of Morbidian social values to foster the creation of a strong, inclusive lordion empire - and socialization - the creation of a largely state-controlled economy abiding by principles resembling socialism.
Morbidian imperialization featured both positive and negative aspects, largely consisting of the recovery and revitalization of pre-colonial Morbidian culture. Regalius’ government also fostered cultural emphases on inclusion, equality, and social progress as a contrast to Kerolon’s discriminatory imperialism. However, Regalius also fostered a cult of personality centered around himself and the Mortimer family members who would grow into future Great Hegemons. He also fostered militarism and extreme nationalism, which included a deep hatred for colonial Kerolon.
Hundred Year Plan and the Osuwa-Morbidia Cold War (1600-1684)
Despite their shared origins, Morbidia and its fellow budding nation Osuwa quickly came at odds with each other due to their contrasting political and economic systems - while Morbidia embodied autocratic socialism, Osuwa embodied democratic capitalism. With Kerolon’s influence as a superpower waning, Osuwa and Morbidia competed to grow into Uingffhaestia’s next superpower.
Due to the existence of Kerolon between Osuwa and Morbidia as well as poor societal attitudes towards war due to Kerolonian colonialism, the two nations instead entered a long-lasting cold war where they competed for influence over Uingffhian international politics. However, the two nations expanded their power through differing means; while Osuwa opted to begin conquering nearby lands as part of its own imperialist era, Morbidia focused on internal development and boosting the Morbidian economy and society within its own borders to prove the success of autocracy and socialism to Uingffh.
As part of its internal development goal, Morbidia launched a plan to quicken industrialization while maintaining a collectivist economic model; this plan was initially called the Ten-Year Plan, but was extended multiple times until it became the Hundred Year Plan. The plan initially focused on heavy industry and agriculture, but later came to encompass other, less essential industries as the economic situations of the more essential sectors stabilized. The plan was notably spearheaded by a charismatic Morbidian government official named Treyj Ohnson, who became one of Morbidia’s most widely known and recognized individuals.
The Hundred Year Plan itself ultimately had mixed effectiveness. Though Morbidia’s economy, culture, and power indeed improved throughout the 17th Century, the Hegemony’s growth tended to fall below expectations laid out by Regalius and Ohnson. Notably, the Hegemony allegedly used propaganda and false data to cover up the Hundred Year Plan’s shortcomings, casting doubts on the reliability of the plan’s results as a whole.
More notably, however, the Hundred Year Plan saw a drastic rise in the Morbidian government’s authoritarianism. The Great Morbidian Empire allegedly utilized horrific methods like corporal punishment, emotional abuse, torture, starvation, thirst, etc. against its citizens in order to speed up productivity and meet desired quotas. Conditions in Morbidian industrial production facilities were widely said to be exceptionally harsh, with laborers suffering from exploitation from government overseers, unhealthy environmental conditions, dangerous working conditions, and more.
One of the most prominent atrocities during the Hundred Year Plan was the creation of the Gamilags, forced labor camps with deplorable conditions where the Morbidian government sent dissidents (often falsely accused) as punishment. Morbidia sent countless journalists, creatives, and other individuals to these Gamilags for embracing “anti-Morbidian” ideals like democracy and free market economics. Morbidia also conducted a purge of religious people (most notably Keliostics) and sent them to Gamilags to be executed. An estimated 22 million people were killed in some way by the Morbidian government during the Hundred Year Plan; this number is likely higher in actuality due to the Hegemony’s censorship of deaths and other negative news regarding its practices.
Glisteria Revolution and the rise of the Aberdtian Age of Slavery (1687-1689)
In 1687, Great Hegemon Regalius died, leaving his eldest daughter Glisteria Versta Mortimer, an individual controversial for her support of democracy and more liberal policies, to ascend to the position of the Morbidian Hegemony’s second Great Hegemon. Immediately, Glisteria began passing reforms decreasing the Morbidian government’s power and allowing some rudimentary forms of private industry amidst Morbidia’s total command economy. These reforms (and Glisteria herself) proved extremely controversial and divisive amongst Morbidia’s populace; while a significant amount of Morbidia’s populace welcomed more political freedom, many others feared that Glisteria’s reforms regarding the economy would soon erode workers’ rights and consumer protections, comparing her policies to those of capitalist Osuwa.
These controversies culminated two years later in the 1689 Glisteria Revolution, when millions of Morbidian nationalists backed by Regalius’ loyalists in the Morbidian government stormed the Morbidian palace in Stantain and publicly executed Glisteria. In her place, they installed her younger sister Aberdtia Mornswua Mortimer as the nation’s third Great Hegemon. In stark contrast to Glisteria, Aberdtia strictly adhered to Regalius’ authoritarian socialist policies, tightening control on Morbidian industries and sending millions of perceived anti-Morbidians (including virtually all of Glisteria’s supporters) to the Gamilags. Because of this, Aberdtia’s 122 year-long rule became known as the Aberdtian Age of Slavery amongst Morbidia’s critics in reference to Kerolon’s Wexxian Age of Freedom. The Kerolonian Wexxian Age of Freedom and its preceding Geptunia Revolution (a short-lived authoritarian government being overthrown to make way for a more liberal government) are frequently seen as inverses of the Glisteria Revolution and the subsequent Aberdtian Age of Slavery (a short-lived liberal government being overthrown to make way for a more authoritarian government).
Despite her hardline authoritarianism, Great Hegemon Aberdtia did commit to one policy Glisteria supported: the expansion and strengthening of equal rights for lordion minorities and mortei. Though Morbidia had already guaranteed basic natural rights for such groups long before even the Glisterian Revolution, an uptick in hate crimes against them during Aberdtia’s rule prompted Aberdtia to pass more stringent laws ensuring their equal treatment in the Hegemony. Additionally, Aberdtia punished the perpetrators of hate crimes more harshly and established programs allowing mortei and other minorities more easily access employment and education.
Modernization (1690-1776)
After 1690, Morbidia began to modernize, doing so notably later than Uingffh’s two other nations due to the Glisteria Revolution and other instances of internal civil unrest caused by Morbidia’s authoritarian policies.
Due to the Morbidian Hegemony’s cultural and societal isolation from Osuwa and Kerolon’s more shared culture, Morbidia’s modernization looked markedly different from that of the aforementioned two countries. Technological advancement in Morbidia focused largely on the military; civilian technologies like the internet and more modern appliances were slow to reach the citizens of Morbidia, which were both largely cut off from imported products and subjected to both poverty and political oppression by Aberdit’s dictatorial socialist regime. But on the other hand, policies against racism and other forms of bigotry progressed faster than in Osuwa or even Kerolon; many civil rights and social reforms that Kerolon and Osuwa underwent during the modern era had already been achieved by Morbidia before modernization even began.
Nonetheless, Morbidia joined Kerolon and Osuwa in developing more eco-friendly methods of production during the early 18th Century, though it did so with mixed effectiveness. On one hand, the Great Imperial Hegemony passed harsh laws restricting littering, water use, the use of personal transportation vehicles, smoking, and other similar personal actions. But contrastingly, the nation did little to provide eco-friendly alternatives for its citizens; for instance, Morbidian public transportation remained subpar and government-operated fossil fuel plants remained in operation. Though Morbidia would eventually adopt solar, wind, nuclear power, and other cleaner alternatives as its primary energy sources, it would do so very gradually, not achieving this status until after the end of the modern era.
WIP