The Eastern Union is a group of 38 human-settled worlds in the Eastern Fringe, at the edge of the Imperium. Although still a part of the Imperium of Man, the Imperium's chaotic nature and their distance from any other Imperial authority has allowed the Eastern Union to grow into a practically-independent regional power.
History
Records of settlement for the region are long-lost, but the cluster was brought into the Imperium in the Great Crusade.
Formation of the Union
Beginning in early M36, the region was subject to strong intermittent Warp Storms which cut off the cluster from the rest of the Imperium; local Imperial commanders held power as best they could, but the intermittent nature of the Warp Storms permitted Xenos and Heretics to sometimes slip through the storms and attack the cluster.
Civil wars rocked the cluster as different Imperial commanders clashed with each other, each trying to gain supremacy or prevent others from doing so. Finally, in 848.M36 a near-simultaneous series of revolts burst out across every planet in the cluster; Adeptus Arbites and even Imperial Guard forces could not put them down, and the military government and warlords were forced to relent.
Disgusted by the regular authorities' inability to defend them from the threat of Xenos and Heretics, the rebels called a cluster-wide convention with representatives from every system; they formed a loose coalition, devoted to common defense against the threats they faced without any hope of aid from the rest of the Imperium.
By the end of M36 the loose commonwealth had coalesced into a Federation titled the Eastern Union, whose central government had gained enough power to force the Imperial Guard and Navy commanders to answer to it.
Attempted Putsch
Although militarily the Imperial Guard and Navy could have overthrown the Union, they could not have sustained any control over the fractious worlds of the cluster. Also, the Federation halted infighting in Imperial ranks and brought the warlords to heel, which won the loyalty of many Imperial soldiers.
Still, enough higher officers were chagrined at this assumption of power that they attempted to overthrow the Legitimate government of then-President Frederich Ebert: in 923.M36 a conspiracy of Imperial Guard and Navy officers led by General Walter Luttwitz seized control of government.
But most of the 'Legitimate' government escaped from the putsch and the 'Legitimatists' called for a cluster-wide general strike; the Eastern Union came to a standstill, while the defection of most governemnt adepts prevented the Putschists from being able to govern effectively; enough of the military remained loyal to the Union that the Putschists could not rule through military fiat, and the Putschists were forced to surrender and reinstall President Ebert.
Aftermath of the Putsch
Resisting calls for bloody reprisals, Ebert re-assigned or dismissed the officers who had been most prominent in the putsch, and permitted most of the rest to return to the ranks in the Navy and Guard. The wounds of the Putsch swiftly closed under the pressure of outside invasion.
Civil War
Still cut off by Warp Storms, the Union Government succeeded in unifying the worlds into a strong defensive alliance: though troubled by Xenos and Heretics, none could prove a real threat to the Eastern Union. But by mid-200.M37, a new threat had arisen: safe from external threats, a new threat had risen from within, leading to civil war.
Causes
The civil war had its beginnings in the formation of the Eastern Union; on many worlds the revolution that brought it about had overthrown oligarchies and replaced them with republican government, but on others the old tyrants and warlords remained in place under new titles, paying lip service to the ideals of the Union while slowly rebuilding their influence and power.
Eventually it became clear to observant people what was transpiring, but most people on the free worlds dismissed these warnings, alluding them to a few alarmists. But as time passed, the oligarchists and aristocrats had gained enough power to begin making demands of the free worlds, altering the Federation to suit their purposes.
It soon became clear to even the least observant on the free worlds that the Union was in danger, but their government was paralyzed by indecision, filled with oligarchists and their sympathizers and collaborators. Finally, in 200.M37 a new president of the Union was elected on an anti-oligarchist platform, determined to halt their tamperings with the laws of the Federation.
The Oligarchists responded to the election with force: declaring their independence, they formed the Confederation of Darkness, raised a large army and attacked Union bases and loyalists within 'their' territory.
Formation of the Union Army
The relatively small Imperial Guard forces in the Eastern Union, while more then sufficient to protect against foreign raiders and invaders, was insufficient to combat this uprising, especially since many Guard officers deserted their posts to join the rebels. To put down the rebellion the Federal Government called for volunteers from every loyal world to put down the insurrection. The Imperial Guard forces were disbanded, their personnel scattered throughout the new Union Army to train and lead the eager citizen-soldiers.
The rebels had no real navy to speak of, and though they built ships with unprecedented energy, the Imperial Navy was never really threatened, and so the Imperial Navy was not disbanded
Course of the War
Union and Confederate forces clashed across the Eastern Union: many worlds were wracked by their own civil wars as the partisans of both sides fought for control. Still, the Confederation, built by Oligarchs, did not have the political or economic stamina of the republican Union: the Confederation won several large early victories, but the Union came back swinging, winning control of contested worlds and capturing several Confederation armies.
Both sides made use of Mutant slaves in production and labor. But as terrible losses mounted, common folk and leaders on both sides suggested using Mutants as soldiers; in the Confederation, such people were labeled 'traitors' and 'un-Confederate'; in the Union, they were likewise mocked, but as the war ground on, they gained more and more support, until Martasvin raised its first Mutant regiment, promising freedom to any Mutant who fought for the Union.
Martasvin's example was soon followed by other Union worlds, while the rigid Oligarchic government of the Confederation prevented the realists from ever convincing their leaders of the necessity.
With Mutant slaves adding valuable manpower to their forces, the Union Army won many further victories. The Confederation counterattacked in 203.M37, winning back valuable ground and nearly capturing a Union army at the Siege of Chunuga, but they could not hold their gains, and thousands of soldiers deserted, disillusioned and unwilling to fight the aristocrats' war for them.
End of the War
By the end of 204.M37 the last rebel armies were bottled up and besieged; an amnesty was offered to surrendering rebels, and after a final wasteful attempt to break out, the last rebels surrendered.
Cleansing the Cluster
During the chaos of the Civil War, Xenos and Heretics had been able to slip through the Warp Storms into the cluster. There they had established their own secret bases, uniting with deserters from both sides to raid and pillage outlying settlements, laying waste to entire regions.
The Union diverted significant forces to combat them, while the Confederation dealt and allied with them; the savagery and advanced tech they brought added significantly to the Confederation's forces, but it only accelerated the moral decay that was the Confederation's downfall.
Once that downfall was complete, the Federal Government brought its full forces to bear on these 'savages': starting in 205.M37 the Union Army and Imperial Navy waged a series of genocidal wars against them, killing them all or driving them from the cluster. By 237.M37 the Eastern Union was cleansed of the savages.
War With The Necron
In 999.M37 Necrons awoke on the Agri-World Arrizon; after Union Army reinforcements were rushed there, they were defeated at the Battle At The Foot Of The Pyramids.
This proved to be only the first appearance of the Xeno horrors in the cluster: Soon, Necrons were appearing on many worlds and once again the Eastern Union was plunged into war.
Lasting over a decade, the war with the Necrons was a bloody, desperate struggle; the Eastern Union Army mobilized millions of men and threw them into combat on over a dozen worlds where Necrons arose. despite the advanced Necron tech, the overwhelming numbers and firepower of the Union Army prevailed.
Necron tech was declared anathema: every fragment of the Necrons, their tombs, their weapons and technology, was smashed, melted, fragged, and burned. Not understanding their inhuman enemies, the humans feared that even the tiniest piece of Necron technology could rebuild itself and eventually rebuild the Necron hordes.
Whether this was true or not, the total destruction of the Necrons meant there was nothing to be gained from studying them, and little real proof that they ever were; over time, some people have come to believe the war with the Necrons is a myth, and after the Eastern Union rejoined the Imperium, Imperial officials tend to dismiss the war as legendary.
Composition
The Eastern Union is composed of a number of systems, including, but not limited to:
Martasvin
- Also in the Martasvin system: Munruvia
Kansaas
Nusterdam
Philadelphi
T'Neecee
Western Reach
The Western Reach is a region of space difficult to reach from the rest of the Eastern Union; connected by only a few stable warp routes, the Western Reach is particularly troubled by Xeno and Heretic incursions through the Warp Storms.
Olego
Bearf
Military
The Eastern Union Army is the title of the Imperial Guard in the Eastern Union: composed of regiments raised from every world of the Union. raised primarily by voluntary enlistment, the Union Army has displayed a high morale that has borne it through millennia of conflict.
Without a single forge world to produce advanced weapons of war, the Union Army has had to make do with what weapons can be produced on Hive and Civilized worlds; the results of these improvisations have sometimes been surprisingly effective.
Regiments of the Union Army
Kansaas Jayhawks
Notable Engagements
In 999.M39 a Necron host awoke on Arrizon, and was narrowly defeated at The Battle At The Foot Of The Pyramids
Equipment
Sprenfeldt Rifle
Culture
The Eastern Union has a tradition of equality: after the formation of the Union, most worlds abolished nobility, and most worlds in the Union are governed in a republican manner.
Mutants
Mutants in the Eastern Union are generally subject to less discrimination than they might face elsewhere: early in the life of the Federation it was realized that Mutants had to be dealt with in some way that would strengthen the Eastern Union in the face of threats internal and external; Martasvin started by employing Mutants in the Imperial Guard. Other worlds followed suit.
Over time, Mutants have gained some inroads into equality; on many worlds of the Union, Mutants can own businesses and even gain minor government posts. The world of Munruvia was even set aside as a Mutant reservation, primarily for those who had served in the Imperial Guard.