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Freihafen's Diplomacy By Randy McDonald HistoryRelations with Other Tiranean Colonies Relations with Interstellar Powers Freihafen's German Question The Kafer War History
Freihafen’s diplomatic history began
almost as soon as the United Colonies of Garten were created, as each
of the Bavarian colonies were given a fair degree of autonomy in dealing
with neighboring colonies (Bavarian and otherwise) and with immigrant-sending
countries. Following the transformation of the colonies into the current
kreis, these powers were centralized at Hauptstadt. As Garten
gradually acquired a greater interest in Tiranean and interstellar affairs,
the Gartener colonial government petitioned München for limited autonomy
in foreign affairs. This autonomy was granted in 2236, and the Externe
Angelegenheit-Ministerium (Ger: External Affairs Ministry) was founded
the same year.
The Externe
Angelegenheit-Ministerium was not an accredited diplomatic service,
although it cooperated with Bavarian embassies in foreign countries.
Rather, by and large the Externe Angelegenheit-Ministerium
operated as the public face of Garten through its network of missions,
each known individually as Garten Haus. By the 2260s, a Garten
Haus had appeared in four dozen cities: in the capitals and major
cities of the other Tiranean colonies; in München, Stuttgart, Nürnburg,
and Frankfurt in Terran Bavaria; in Essen, Hannover, Berlin, Dresden
and Leipzig in the other German states; in Paris and Brussels, Vienna
and Budapest, Triest
and Zagreb, Prague and Bratislava, Warsaw and Wilno, Austin and Athens
elsewhere on Earth; and, on the Bavarian colony worlds of Nibelungen,
Beta Canum, Adlerhorst, and Hochbaden. A Garten Haus served
as a base for Garten officials, as they entered into cultural agreements
with their counterparts, recruited immigrants, and encouraged trade
and tourism. Outside of the Bavarian community, a Garten Haus
could count on the support of the local Bavarian embassy or consulate.
On Tirane, too, Garteners dominated the staff of the Bavarian embassies
and consulates, providing four out of six ambassadors and consul-generals,
for instance, and the overwhelming majority of staff and business
handled by the embassies and consulates.
Verbindung der deutschen Sprache
[Ger: Association of the German Language] German–in
the immediate post-Twilight era spoken by just several tens
of millions of people–has risen to become one of the major
languages of human space, spoken as a first language by
more than 450 million people, and as a language of wider
communication by almost as many people. Concentrated particularly
in the Core and the French Arm, the German language ranks
behind only English and French (alongside Manchurian, and
comfortably ahead of Japanese and Portuguese) as a major
language of human space. Over
the past half-century, Freihafen–home to just under half
of humanity’s natively Teutophone population–has recently
taken on substantial importance in the wider Teutophone
world despite the acrimonious separation from Germany. Freihafener
popular musics, literatures, and political ideologies are
avidly consumed by Teutophones across human space. The Crailsheim-based
journalist Gretchen Czepan was the first (2259) to compare
then-Garten’s position in the Teutophone community to that
of 19th century Brazil in the Lusophone community–a rich
colonial offshoot, rapidly becoming more important than
the mother country. Freihafener German differs significantly
from Terrestrial or colonial German, with its heavy lexical
influence by other colonial and immigrant languages on Tirane
and changing vocabulary. The
Freihafener government is quite interested in promoting
the status of the German language, on Tirane and elsewhere,
both on its own merits and as a vital tool in Freihafen’s
cultural diplomacy. Accordingly, it was entirely natural
that Freihafen would seek and gain membership in the Verbindung
der deutschen Sprache in 2295. Meeting in the Swiss
city of Zürich, the Verbindung der deutschen Sprache
is the official agency charged with establishing common
standards for the German language. The German, Austrovenian,
and Freihafener federal governments all are represented,
as are their federal units (German and Austrovenian länder,
Freihafener kreis) and the Teutophone cantons of
Switzerland. The Kolonialgegend von Rho Eridani
has not yet sent representatives to the Verbindung der
deutschen Sprache; the question of how to respond if
the secessionist Bavarian colony does it a topic of lively
debate. Freihafen
has sought to promote the normalization of non-Earth German
dialects. It has gotten some support from Austrovenian and
Swiss delegates, both representing countries which prize
their local dialects of German as signs of local identity,
but the reaction of Terran Germany has been more hostile.
Freihafener proposals to give German colonies representation
in the Verbindung der deutschen Sprache have
been vetoed by Germany, ostensibly on the grounds that none
of Germany’s war-devastated colonies can afford the distractions,
actually because some German officials fear that Freihafen
is trying to pry the colonies (the former Bavarian ones,
at any rate) away from Germany. Freihafen’s rapidly increasing
funding of the Verbindung der deutschen Sprache,
undertaken entirely voluntarily by the Freihafen government
with the stated intention of ensuring that the Verbindung
der deutschen Sprache can actively promote the German
language and Teutophone government, will shortly surpass
that of Germany. Increasingly, the Verbindung der deutschen
Sprache is becoming a forum for quiet Freihafener-German
competition; so far, Freihafen seems to be doing well.
The political
earthquake that divided the Bavarian community forced the Externe
Angelegenheit-Ministerium into an entirely new role. In 2292,
Garteners working at the Bavarian embassies on Tirane responded to
their government’s appeal by appropriating Bavarian diplomatic outposts
in the Alpha Centuari system; only in Provincia do Brasil and Tundukubwa
did local governments help Bavarian/German loyalists keep control.
In retaliation, the provisional German government closed down each
and every Garten Haus on its sovereign territory, deporting
their staffs back to Tirane via neutral British transports; on Adlerhorst,
staff at the local Garten Haus got drawn into that colony’s
multi-sided civil war. The Externe Angelegenheit-Ministerium
was forced not only to formulate a coherent foreign policy in the
middle of the most radical astropolitical tumult seen since the beginning
of humanity’s interstellar era, but it had to forge a moderately functional
diplomatic service out of a collection of scattered and often understaffed
missions without official diplomatic status or recognition. The Vereinigte
Kolonien von Garten sought, as an autonomous entity unwilling
to subordinate itself to unresponsive rule from Earth, first and foremost
to have its right to self-determination recognized. This meant, Externe
Angelegenheit-Ministerin Katrina Meyer-Ruzic noted in her frequent
press meetings that the Vereinigte Kolonien would resist any
attempts by any foreign powers to dominate the colony, not just Germany.
Only Garteners could decide the future of Garten. This
blunt foreign policy won the Externe Angelegenheit-Ministerium
a measure of popular respect, while actual success was measured by
the establishment of relations with (among other
countries) France, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Russia, and Texas, all countries
concerned with German reunification’s destabilization of the astropolitical
balance of power. Following the success of the separatists in the
referendum, the Externe Angelegenheit-Ministerium, based from
its de facto embassies, lobbied local governments to recognize
the independence of the new state when (not if) it was declared. The Third Battle
of Alpha Centauri proved decisive moment. In the course of three separate
engagements (two ending in exchanges of fire, one of these involving
Freihafener Raumwaffe vessels pitted against their opposites
from the German Sternkriesgmarine), Freihafen’s determination
to maintain its independence from Germany was made more than clear.
The subsequent declaration of independence was universally recognized,
even (perhaps especially) by Germany. The Externe Angelegenheit-Ministerium
now had the hard task of defining and communicating the principles
of a foreign policy radically different from anything known under
Bavarian rule. The Vier Punkte
(Ger: Four Points) were first enunciated by Bundeskanzler
Hartman in his famous broadcast address to the Freihafener nation. The Externe Angelegenheit-Ministerium was charged with: The Vier Punkte
have remained the guiding principles of Freihafen’s foreign policy
to this day. Following Freihafen’s
successful defense against German invaders in the Second Battle of
Alpha Centauri and its declaration of independence, the first point
was effectively fulfilled by the universal recognition of Freihafener
independence. The 2294 Franco-Freihafener Treaty of Mutual Defense,
committing each signatory to defending the territories and holdings
of the other in the Alpha Centauri against unprovoked attack, is the
cornerstone of Freihafen defense policy, and the surest guarantee
of its survival. More recently, this first point has been defended
by pursuing the other three points of the Vier Punkte.
Freihafen’s Tiranean
diplomacy has concentrated on preserving (where these existed) and
creating (where none did) close relations across the board with the
other colonial societies on Tirane. This was an initial challenge
immediately after Freihafen’s declaration of independence, when there
seemed to be a risk that Freihafen could act as a destabilizing force
on Tirane much like Élysia on Joi. Fortunately, the easy transition
to independence helped efface these fears, while the help lent to
Freihafen by the Anglophone colonial societies helped to diversify
Freihafen’s options beyond a potentially dangerous concentration on
Nouvelle Provence. Amaterasu: The
Japanese Region of Amaterasu long had low-key relations with the
Federated Colony of Garten, characterized by relatively small but
vital trade and tourist flows. The Japanese were surprised by German
reunification and the subsequent war with France, and had feared
the extension of Franco-German tensions (and Japanese-German) tensions
to Tirane. Freihafener independence fortunately forestalled this,
and allowed Tiranean affairs to continue much as before. Amaterasu
officialdom is worried
by Freihafener tiranista sentiments, but so long as the
new country adheres to its klein tirane variant these
can be safely overlooked. Fearful that Freihafen influence could
encourage the non-Japanese districts of Amaterasu to secede entirely
from the Japanese federation, though, the regional government has
limited Freihafen’s diplomatic presence to a sub-embassy in Amaterasu-ko;
the regional government, in turn, is limited to a mission in Hauptstadt.
New Canberra: Freihafen
enjoys good relations with New Canberra, and both countries have
long enjoyed a great deal of interaction in both trade and cultural
exchanges. It was in New Canberra that Freihafen first emerged as
an independent power, when the erstwhile German representative to
the Tirane Council was rebuffed in a vote of the Council that depended
on New Canberran opposition to German claims to the former Bavarian
seats. Recently, several Freihafener wine-growing corporations have
invested heavily in New Canberra’s nascent wine industry in the
hopes of eventually competing in the wider Tiranean marketplace.
Nouvelle-Provence:
Nouvelle-Provence and Freihafen have long shared an intense relationship
marked by substantial intercolonial trade and migration, and currently
relations between the two societies are as good as they have ever
been; indeed, possibly better. Freihafeners have however become
concerned by recent signs that Nouvelle-Provence might be destabilizing,
as evidenced by the chaos during the junta period, the rise of tiranista
sentiment, and the utter failure of the Third French Empire to accommodate
Néo-Provençal needs. Freihafen’s decision to support Tirania’s right
to decide for independence was badly received by some in Mirambeau,
and Freihafen’s recent attempts to develop its interstellar profile
are seen as potentially destabilizing. However, as yet Freihafen
has not seriously challenged the fact that it is France’s junior
partner in the Franco-Freihafener relationship, and despite the
storm clouds on the horizon relations are good.
Provincia do Brasil:
Since independence, Freihafen’s relationship with the different
estados of Provincia do Brasil has been good, with Greek-Freihafeners
being particularly interested in Nova Ostia. Fairly intense exchanges
of tourists and trade have been going on between the two societies
since the mid-23rd century. Nonetheless, Tiranean Brazilian governments
are disturbed by the cultural and religious laxity of Freihafeners,
and believe that Freihafen’s declaration of independence (to say
nothing of the Third Battle of Alpha Centauri and the ongoing Freihafener
support of Heidelsheimat) sets bad precedents for liberal-minded
colonial empires. Freihafeners, for their part, are mildly exasperated
by Brazil’s refusal to give formerly Bavarian diplomatic properties in Provincia
do Brasil to Freihafen, and by the (correct) perception that Brazilians
see no differences between Germans and Freihafeners. Still, relations
are friendly.
Saint Tyraine:
Until Freihafen gained its independence, Garteners paid little attention
to the small Caribe-settled archipelago of the Gulf Islands off
the southeastern coast of Tirania, but with the warming of Freihafener-Tiranian
nations Freihafen vacationers began to take notice of the tourism-friendly
Caribbean enclave. In 2293, Caribe opened a consulate in Hauptstadt.
Freihafen has an honorary consul available, but budget constraints
have delayed the opening of a full consulate in Beauregarde.
Tirania: Although
Americo-Bavarian relations were always cordial, Bavarian Garten
and American Tirania only began to build a relationship in the mid-23rd
century, ironically as a byproduct of competing Gartener and Tiranian
settlements of islands immediately south of the Tiranian peninsula
in the Rocard Straits, the Inseln Der Königin-Clara
(Ger: Queen Clara Islands). Garten was always a major trading partner
of the much smaller American colony, and there was a low-key tradition
of migration between the two colonial societies; many potential
Garten separatists exiled themselves in Tirania, while during the
Slump many Tiranians sought work in the country to their south.
The dispute over the Inseln Der Königen-Clara was settled
peaceably in the 2270s, when Tirania was able to keep those islands
that were settled by Tiranians while Freihafen got the remainder,
with Tiranian companies and workers being allowed assist in the
Friehafenian bridge project which connected these islands to the
Freihafener mainland. This peaceful resolution lay the groundwork
for the decision of Tirania to instruct its voting representative
on the Tirane Council to vote in 2293 in favour of recognizing Freihafen’s
independence. Now, the two countries maintain a thriving trade relationship,
with Freihafen exporting consumer goods– in particular, personal
transport vehicles and construction equipment–and importing minerals
and high-tech electronics from Tirania. Freihafeners strongly support
Tirania’s gradual movement towards independence.
Tundukubwa: From
the early years of ESA settlement on Tirane, Freihafen has carried
on an intense trading relationship with Tundukubwa as part of Akadia
continent’s division of labour, importing Tundukubwan mineral exports
and exporting local manufactured goods. More recently, several million
Tundukubwans have immigrated to Freihafen, providing an important
human bond between the two societies. However, the Azanian government’s
skepticism of Freihafener independence broken spoiled the previous history of smooth relations between Hauptstadt
and Tundukubwa, while the failure of the tiranistas to win
support in the Tundukubwan Colonial Parliament for a referendum
on independence has disappointed Freihafener tiranistas.
Relations can best be described as cordial, but tainted.
Tunghu: Relations
with Manchuria and the Tunghu enclave have been particularly good
ever since the foundation of the two colonial societies. During
the Central Asian War, Garten and Tunghu colonial authorities took
care to avoid armed conflict and limit tension to some opéra
bouffe displays of border guards, while Manchurian support and
recognition of Freihafen as it moved towards independence was conducted
by Tunghu authorities. Today, Freihafen-Tunghu relations are particularly
good, and intense. The enclave of Tunghu is well connected
to all the major cities of Freihafen by air film and hydrogen road
nets, and is a major trade outlet for Freihafen’s goods. Tunghu’s
beaches, Chinese cultural events, and shops also attract very large
numbers of Freihafener tourists, while there is much migration between
the two colonies.
Wellon: Since the
Alpha Centauri War of 2162, the Bavarian and British colonists on
Tirane have gotten along excellently despite Britain’s championing
of Hanover as its main Terran German ally. Although there has historically
been relatively little migration or cultural exchange between Freihafen
and Wellon, the two countries now trade quite intensively, exchanging
industrial goods to support their sophisticated industrial economies;
Freihafener starship components play an important role in Wellon's
starship building industry at Hawking Station. Following Freihafen’s
2292 declaration of independence, Wellon supported the ex-Bavarian
colony’s declaration, with Wellonese Prime Minister Singh privately
offering the Freihafen government military aid in the case of a
German assault and instituting a new tradition of annual joint military
exercises. Wellonese support for Freihafener independence was partly
based on a pragmatic judgement that a strong Terran Germany ruling
a restive Garten was much less preferable to a stable independent
Freihafen, but mostly based upon excitement at seeing the success
of tiranista sentiment. Freihafeners readily accepted
that they desperately needed a Wellonese alliance. Trade between
the two countries continues to grow, and private and public cultural
exchanges–exchange trips paid by students of one nation to the other,
for instance, and sending cultural “diplomats” to cultural events–are
beginning to create a stronger basis for relations. The only strain
in Freihafener-Wellonese relations is the failure of the Freihafener
government to dispatch substantial military forces to the French
Arm in the Kafer War; Freihafener official statements that the country
simply does not have the long-range military strength necessary
to intervene are treated skeptically by Wellonese who note Freihafen’s
strong industrial economy. Freihafen strongly supports the
Tirane Council as a force for stability on Tirane.
Freihafen is opposed to Brazillian attempts to gain a seat on the Council
for the Roman Catholic Church, given Freihafener secularism and the
Church's lack of sovereign status in the Alpha Centauri system.
Freihafeners are concerned that
the growth of radical tiranista sentiment in Anglophone colonial societies
on Tirane could destabilize the council by forcing it to take a stance
on the legitimacy of tiranista ideology. Klein Tirane tiranistas
would generally prefer that a separate organization would be founded
to govern a federation of Tiranean colonial states.
The Tiranista
Movement and Klein Tirane Freihafeners are
not unnaturally interested in the principles of the
Tiranista movement. Tirane, as Freihafeners are well aware,
is a prosperous world with all of Earth’s advantages (wealth,
high technology, large populations) and very few of its
disadvantages (no major wars or atrocities in historical
memory, relatively little ecological damage). It would make
sense for Tiraneans to unite as a free planet, giving the
different Tiranean colonial offshoots a chance to establish
superior economies of scale to any of the starfaring powers
of Earth, even vast France and Manchuria.
The problem with the
Tiranista movement, however, is that most Tiraneans see
no reason why the planet should be unified.
Freihafeners remember that they themselves barely a decade ago
they were content to remain constituents of a Bavarian interstellar
community. The arguments of more doctrinaire tiranistas
in the Anglophone communities of Tirane as to the necessity
of incorporating the entire planet in a tiranista
state are seen as insensitive and positively harmful to
the cause. The dominant strain of
the tiranista movement in Freihafen is the Klein Tirane
movement. As described by Professor Emilie Kovacevic and
Neumarkt journalist Ernst Majláth in their 2297 book of
the same name, the Klein Tirane tiranistas accept
that a union of the entire planet is unlikely. It would
be far more profitable, Kovacevic and Majláth argued, to
move towards a more practical union of those Tiranean colonial
societies interested in independence and union under tiranista
principles. A Freihafen-Tirania-Wellon bloc with a combined
population in excess of 400 million people and a GDP of
more than 2 million Blv would be a formidable entity indeed,
with basic underlying cultural and linguistic similarities;
including New Canberra (or all of Australia) would create
a Klein Tirane easily surpassing the French Empire
on Earth.
Freihafen’s interstellar relationships
are characterized by a desire to strengthen existing ties, to establish
as broad and inclusive a framework as possible. Whether this means
restoring old relationships disrupted by the events of the 2290s or
creating entirely new ones, Freihafener diplomats and government officials
are single-minded in their desire to make their country a desirable
ally in interstellar affairs. As a basically status quo power, Freihafen
is uninterested in Élysée’s revolutionary aspirations to reshape colonial
space into a collection of free republics; likewise, however, it is
skeptical about desires to establish colonial empires centrally directed
from Earth, knowing perfectly well from its own experience that these
regimes are very fragile. Freihafen’s ideal known space would be centered
upon enlightened quasi-confederal colonial regimes which would know
when to let go of their maturing offshoots. America: Though
Americo-Freihafener relations have traditionally been cordial, Freihafeners
are watching the progress of Tirania’s negotiations for independence
carefully. Freihafen’s government has been quite vocal in proclaiming
that Tiranians have every right to independence. If the absolute
worst ever happened and the United States tried to repress the Tiranians,
Freihafen would certainly intervene military on the Tiranians’ side.
Moreover, the Reagan Society’s recent efforts to settle the uninhabited
continent of Enfer–just across the Nilfheim Sea from Freihafen–in
America’s name is also a serious irritant, on geopolitical as well
as ecological grounds. Austrovenia: Austrovenia
has long been a leading source of immigrants to Garten/Freihafen,
ranking second behind Bavaria. Independent Freihafen has taken care
to cultivate friendly relations with Austrovenia, not only because
such is what the Austrian- and Slovene-Freihafener wants, but because
Freihafener strategists see a friendly Austrovenia as a vital foothold
on Earth. The Freihafener government maintains an embassy in Vienna,
and consulates in Salzburg and Trieste; the Austrovenian government
has a large embassy in Hauptstadt and an office on Lasswitz Station,
and the Slovenian republic maintains missions in the Freihafener
capital and in the Westgarten city of Neuklagenfurt, home
to many Kommunalslovenes. Argentina: Relations
with this INAP power are chilly at best, owing to continued resentment
of Argentina’s destabilizing role on Tirane since the Alpha Centauri
War of 2162 and dislike by conservative Catholics of the NovoCatolico
Church. Freihafeners resent Argentine non-voting membership on the
Tirane Council through the INAP outpost at Sheol, and are very hostile
to the idea of Argentina reclaiming the Nueva Malvinas. The small
Argentine embassy at Haupstadt is infrequently visited by Freihafeners;
only slightly more Argentines stop by the Freihafener embassy in
Buenos Aires. Australia: Relations
with Terran Australia are polite though distant. Terran Australians
are somewhat concerned at the possibility that tiranista
sentiments might spread to their largest colony off-Earth, but since
Freihafen is a less potent source of tiranista sentiment
than Anglophone Wellon or Tirania they take little note. Freihafeners,
for their part, are impressed by Australia’s technological society
and terribly fond of native Australian fauna. (Kangaroos are particularly popular now.)
Australia maintains
a full embassy in Hauptstadt, and Freihafen has an embassy in Newcentre.
Neither facility is very busy. Azania: Relations
between Azania and Freihafen are polite, but hindered by Freihafener
resentment of Azania’s initial opposition to independence. Most
contact between the two countries is conducted through Tundukubwa,
but recently Freihafener merchant vessels have begun paying visits
to the Azanian French Arm colonies of Okavango (Kimanjano) and Lubumbashi
(Joi) as part of aid efforts. Azania and Freihafen maintain embassies
in each other’s capitals; in addition, Freihafen’s Beta Canum consulate
is accredited to the Azanian colonial governments elsewhere on the
French Arm. Brazil: Freihafen
and Brazil share cordial relations, but the common Brazilian opinion
that Freihafen’s preemptive secession from reunified Germany was
a bad move has dampened Freihafener enthusiasm for the relationship.
Freihafen and Terran Brazil have only minimal trade and other relations,
and their diplomatic representation is limited to embassies in the
other’s capital. Britain: Anglo-Freihafener
relations have generally been friendly, in part because of British
sentiments that a united Germany which included Bavarian holdings
outside of the French Arm would be too powerful. A series of trade
agreements signed by Britain and Freihafen (and, in one case, between
the Dominion of Alicia and Freihafen) have led to a doubling of
Anglo-Freihafener trade, while recent Freihafener aid missions into
the French Arm promise a further intensification of relations.
Canada: Canada
was quickly to recognize Freihafen after 2994, following the British
and Wellonese leads. Canado-Freihafener relations are friendly,
and the two countries maintain full diplomatic relations although
very little business is really done between the two countries.
Czechoslovakia:
Czechoslovakia, like Austrovenia, has friendly relations with Freihafen
based on their shared immigration history, although Czechoslovakia’s
prosperous industrial economy and strong army makes it a potentially
more useful partner than Austrovenia. Freihafen has an embassy in
Prague that does double duty as a forum for cultural events, as
well as a consulate in Bratislava; Czechoslovakia, in turn, has
an embassy in Hauptstadt, a consulate in Neu-Tsingtao, and an office
at Lasswitz Station. Élysée: Although
Élysée and Freihafen gained independence from their respective colonial
empires at roughly the same time, Freihafeners are very reluctant
to agree that there is even that much in common between the two
post-colonial numbers. To Frehafenians, Élysée’s revolutionary war
of independence, the direct involvement of foreign troops, and the
chaotic political climate of post-independence Élysée are perfect
examples of how not to gain independence. Élyséens, for their
part, see the Freihafeners as bourgeois snobs whose conservative
revolution helped slow down colonial emancipation. Their government
has been hostile to the idea of Freihafen establishing a colony,
either under French protection or independently, on Joi.
Flanders: Less
than a month after the Franco‑Freihafener Treaty of Mutual
Defense, Freihafen recognized Flanders and sent an embassy there.
Although Freihafeners did know that France was sensitive to the
Flemish secession in the War of German Reunification, they didn't
particularly care; though this was said only quietly, Freihafeners
(not only those of Flemish background) felt that the Flemish had
as much right to secede from France as they did to secede from Germany.
The Flemish welcomed Freihafener interest, since this gave them
renewed access to interstellar markets and even (through Freihafener
re-exporters) to
French markets. Trade between the two countries is growing quickly,
while Flemish immigration to Freihafen is beginning to pick up.
The Flemish embassy in Hauptstadt is accompanied by consulates in
Neumarkt and Crailsheim, while the Freihafener embassy in Antwerp
supports smaller consulates in Ghent and embattled Brussels.
France: Freihafeners
are quite conscious that their society’s transition to independence
could not have gone nearly as smoothly as it did without French
diplomatic, economic, and military support against Germany. At all
levels, relations between Paris and Hauptstadt are quite friendly
and intense. Nonetheless, Freihafeners remain suspicious about the
long-term viability of the Third French Empire as well as the French
interstellar community, particularly in the wake of the Kafer War
which devastated so many French holdings. Some analysts–including
Professor Emilie Kovacevic–believe that, strained by the growth
of colonial nationalisms and the costs of rebuilding from the Kafer
War, the French community beyond the Core could break apart. The
French, for their part, are happy that the peaceful pre-Reunification
relationship between France and ex-Garten has been maintained, but
fear that a powerful Freihafen could be far more destabilizing than
any Élysia could be. France has embassies and consulates in the
major cities of Freihafen, while Freihafen maintains a large embassy
in Paris and consulates in Libreville, Algiers, and Strasbourg. Freihafen's German
Question; Or, Breaking Up Is Hard to Do
When Freihafen seceded
from the Bavarian interstellar community, it fractured what
would otherwise have been the largest interstellar community
in human space, rivaling even
the French
Empire. Before German reunification,
Garten's role in the Bavarian interstellar community was
relatively predictable; German reunification and the emergence
of independent Freihafen put everything in flux. Between
German reunification, Freihafener independence, the "Heidelsheimat
Question," and the Third Battle of Alpha Centauri, hard
feelings were created between the German and Freihafener
governments. Only lately have things looked up.
Germany:
German-Freihafener relations in the past decade have been
complicated by the misunderstandings of one people for the
other. German nationalists had expected that Garten, like
the entire Bavarian interstellar community, would follow
their colonizer into the embrace of a united Germany; when
Garten refused on the grounds that its people were not Germans
and declared its independence, German sentiments were stung.
For their part, Freihafeners resented how "foreign" Germans
had appropriated their colony's interstellar future without
asking, and how the Bavarian referendum did not take account
of the colonial (especially Gartener) electorate. Post-independence
German-Freihafener relations have been dominated by disputes
over the remains of the Bavarian colonial empire, including
the ownership of diplomatic property on Tirane, Bavarian
Sternkriegsmarine vessels crewed by Garteners who
transferred their ships to Freihafen, trading rights, and
profound questions of national identity.
These sterile disputes
could have gone on for quite some time had not the Kafer
War intervened, suddenly making German-Freihafener disputes
look irrelevant. Quickly, most of the remaining disputes
were settled, and Freihafen's industrial economy geared
up to support first German military efforts then relief
efforts generally in the French Arm. Although German-Freihafener
sentiments can't be described as warm, for the first time since independence
they can be described as promising. German colonies: Six million
people living in the once-Bavarian colonies of Germany were
born on Tirane. At one time, Garteners had expected to inherit
leadership of the Bavarian interstellar community, given
Garten's growing industrial and demographic strength. Instead,
Bavaria's merger with Germany forced Garten to become independent
Freihafen, and effectively shut out Freihafeners from the
German colonial empire, now entirely concentrated in the
French Arm. Terran Germany and Neubayern took over most
of Freihafen's former market share, and Freihafener migration
to the French Arm colonies was cut off sharply. The long-term
trend, most Freihafener analysts woefully predicted, was
for a disengagement of Freihafener from the former Bavaria's
French Arm colonies. This
changed sharply with the Kafer War. In the space of a year,
all of the former Bavarian colonies save Nibelungen (safely
behind the front lines at Queen Alice's Star) and Adlerhorst
(secured by the multinational peacekeeping force stationed
there) fell to the Kafer hordes. 5.2 million people living
in the former Bavarian colonies died, including the near-totality
of Hochbaden's population. Germany's industrial and demographic
hearts on Earth and Nibelungen remained safely behind the
front line at Queen Alice's Star, but beyond that front
line the German empire was devastated and in desperate need.
This created an opening for Freihafen.
Eva Mikeska looked
over her operations console on board the
Vaclav Schultz, with
a strange look on her face. The Freihafener vessel she
was serving aboard was orbiting Joi running relief supplies,
supported by Azanian and French escorts. Her commander,
Kaptain-Leutnant 'Good
God, Ka-Leun! The devastation! How could anyone have lived
through that?' 'Surprisingly,
Eva, many did. Joi came out much better than all the others.
Hochbaden, well...' 'Well,
I hope the people in Halbinsel can bury hard feelings
and accept what we have to offer.' Kwiatkowski
grinned, somewhat wolfishly, 'Well, Mikeska, that's what
the ND and the diplomatic service are counting on..'"
With much German shipping
destroyed, Freihafen's merchant fleet–enjoying the protection
not only of Freihafen's Raumwaffe but the French
Marine Spatiale–has recently begun to make appearances
throughout the French Arm, hauling with them a wide variety
of goods and quite frequently the good wishes of Freihafen's
people These ships have been in the forefront of relief
efforts in the French Arm, often under either ESA or Zapamoga
sponsorship. In fact, the Polish relief agency has maintained
one of its largest offices off-Earth at Raumhafen due to
its longstanding ties to Freihafen's interstellar shipping
industry. As many of the non-Bavarian Freihafeners can trace
their ancestry to Zapamoga-sponsored emigration programs,
Freihafener ships supporting Zapamoga often have crews willing
to work for less than the prevailing rate, provided the
mission is in support of relief or colonization efforts.
The Freihafener government
supports these relief missions strongly, often providing
financial subsidies to these ships and supplying food and
industrial supplies for aid. German colonies receive particular
attention, as the Freihafener government hopes that the
donation of much-needed goods and equipment will generate
better feelings toward Freihafen among these German colonists.
In turn, this could improve relations with the newly-united
Bundesrepublik and, should that fail, possibly turn
German colonial opinion away from their parent nation towards
Freihafen. The Freihafener government has recently established
consulates on Nibelungen, Beta Canum, and Adlerhorst to
handle the increased volume of commerce. Heidelsheimat:
Whether or not the "Heidelsheimat Question" has a definitive
answer has been debated in Hauptstadt and in Freihafen at
large just as it has on Earth and on Heidelsheimat itself.
Freihafen is the first (and so far, the only) country to
explicitly recognize Heidelsheimat's independence as a "Bavarian"
colonial society, maintaining an embassy in Steinfurt, cultivating
a lucrative trading relationship with the colony, and providing
extensive military and economic aid. Contrary to the fears
of the smaller colony, there is very little interest on
the part of Freihafeners in transforming Heidelsheimat into
a colonial protectorate; most Freihafeners, policy-makers
and otherwise, would prefer Heidelsheimat to complete the
transition to independence, whether as a Bavarian nation-state
or not. Greece: The Greek
relationship with Freihafen was cordial long before independence,
thanks to the large Greek-Freihafener ethnie and substantial bilateral
trade. Greece’s early recognition of Freihafener independence–quickly
followed by the rest of the Aimos bloc–set the stage for moder bilateral
relations. Freihafen entirely supports the eventual transfer of
Nova Ostia to Greek sovereignty. Greece has an embassy in Hauptstadt
and consulates in Neumarkt and Neu-Tsingtao, while Freihafen has
an embassy in Athens that represents Freihafen to the entire Aimos
bloc. Hungary: Hopes
for a rapid expansion of Hungarian-Freihafener trade, in keeping
with the Freihafener policy of bolstering its central European allies,
have been spoiled by Hungary’s recent nationalization of much of
its economy in the hopes of accelerating its economic modernization.
Nonetheless, Freihafen has kept the door open for an intensification
of relations by keeping liberal immigration quotas and establishing
an embassy in Budapest. Iran: Freihafen
is the only non-Terran nation to have an embassy in Iran, established
in 2297. The Iranians were greatly impressed by this, though as
yet there has been little substantive interaction. The decision
to establish an embassy to Teheran–despite Freihafen’s wartime involvement
against that country in the Central Asian War–is a consequence of
the interest of Freihafener Muslims, either moderates or Shi’ites,
in the liberal Shi’ite and Sufi Islam practiced in that country.
Rather than look to a religiously conservative Arabia or a nationalistic
UAR, Freihafener Muslims–and the Freihafener government–would prefer
to look to a liberal Muslim ally as a religious role model.
Indonesia: For
a long while, Indonesia has had a bad reputation, in part because
of the piracy activities of the Indonesian corporation Singapore
Metals in the early 23nd century, in part because it was the Indonesian
conquest of Malaysia in the early 21st century which displaced the
Polnisches Kantonesisches from their Southeast Asian homeland.
Recently, however, Indonesian efforts to passively terraform the
moon Atropos in the Proxima Centauri system have received favorable
attention in the Freihafener press. In 2301, Freihafen opened an
embassy in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta, followed by Indonesian
reciprocation the following year. Japan: Freihafen’s
declaration of independence relieved many Japanese, as it meant
that the Franco-German tensions which posed such a problem for the
Japanese colony on Joi would not be transferred to Japan’s second
homeworld. Trade between Freihafen and Japanese territories outside
of the Alpha Centauri system has grown sharply, particularly after
the Kafer War. The Japanese authorities want Freihafen continue
to resist the lures of radical tiranista ideology, and that
Freihafen support a Japanese-built beanstalk (see SPACE
OPERATIONS). Freihafeners are so far willing to indulge Japanese
desires. Japan has an embassy in Hauptstadt and consulates in Neumarkt
and Neuklagenfurt, while Freihafen has an embassy in Tokyo and a
sub-embassy in Aguinaldo City. Korea: Although
Korea has had next to no contact with either Bavarian Garten or
independent Freihafen, Korea’s friendly relationships with Manchuria
and America have predisposed Freihafeners to look kindly on Korea.
In the past, the Raumwaffe has paid friendly visits to the
Korean mining outpost at Lachesis in the Proxima Centauri system,
while the Agentur has rented base facilities on its infrequent
visits. Discussions on establishing full diplomatic relations are
currently being conducted between the Freihafener and Korean delegations
at the Tirane Council in New Bennelong. Observers on both sides
believe that there is much potential for trade between the two emerging
“second wave” interstellar powers. Manchuria: Garten,
unlike most of the rest of the Bavarian interstellar community,
has traditionally had friendly relations with Manchuria thanks to
the long history of Garten-Tunghu interaction. Manchuria supported
Freihafen independence on the grounds that it would limit reunified
Germany’s potential to completely destabilize human space, and Manchuria
and Freihafen maintain embassies aimed largely at the promotion
of trade between the two countries. Lately, tensions have been growing
over the Provolution issue, as Freihafen’s relative openness to
this “transhumanist” ideology–openly and legally represented by
the Pro-Entwicklung movement–has been accompanied by Manchurian
Provolutionists seeking (and getting) refugee status in Freihafen.
So far, this issue has not damaged a genuinely friendly relationship.
Mexico: Mexican-Freihafener
relations are almost as cold as Argentine-Freihafener relations,
improved only by Mexico’s lack of conflict on Tirane. The two countries
do not have diplomatic ties; Mexican-Freihafener relations are either
conducted through their delegations at the Tirane Council, or indirectly
through Argentina. Poland: This second-tier
European nation-state–one of the most important non-stutterwarp
states in Europe–is a time-honored partner of first the Vereinigte
Kolonien von Garten, then of independent Freihafen. Common concerns
over Germany and the influence of the Polish-Freihafenian ethnie
have helped cement a modern alliance. The main problems between
the two countries are centered around the activities of terrorist
fundraisers in the Lithuanian-Freihafenian ethnie. Freihafen
maintains a large embassy in Warsaw and consulates in Krakow, Poznan,
and Wilno; Poland, in return, has an embassy in Hauptstadt and consulates
in Neuklagenfurt, Crailsheim, and Sternstadt. Russia: Traditional
Bavarian prejudices against Russia dating from the Twilight and
Russo-Ukrainian Wars had faded by the 23rd century, and two-way
trade and Russian migration to Garten increased steadily as the
century passed. Russia followed its Estlandic satellite in recognizing
Freihafener independence early on, owing to a desire to maintain
its lucrative trade with the former Bavarian colony and its continued
anti-colonial sentiment. Modern Russian-Freihafener relations are
friendly; ships of the Voyenno‑Kosmicheskiye Sily Rossii
and the Freihafener Raumwaffe regularly pay visits to Freihafener
orbital facilities at Alpha Centauri and Russian orbital facilities
in Sol system, respectively, while Russia maintains an embassy
in Hauptstadt and Freihafen has recently opened an embassy to Russia
in Moscow. Serbia: Although
there is a large Serbian community in Freihafen, the relationship
between Serbia and independent Freihafen has generally been distant
though overtly friendly, with Serbia maintaining an interest section
in the Greek embassy in Haupstadt and Freihafen maintaining relations
with Serbia through the Athens embassy. Texas: Texans played
a role out of all proportion to their numbers in organizing the
settlement of the Südgarten and the creation of Neu-Tsingtao,
while Texas was the first country on Earth to recognize Freihafen’s
independence. This history has helped create warm and close diplomatic
relations between Texas and Freihafen. Recently, Texas and Freihafen
have been moving closer together, aided in part by Freihafen’s efforts
at encouraging a rapprochement between Heidelsheimat and Texan Fredonia
at Rho Eridani. The two “second wave” interstellar powers have many
complementarities: Texas has a far-flung colonial empire in the
Chinese Arm but a weak industrial base, while Freihafen has no colonies
at all but a very strong industrial base. Some forward-looking people
in both countries argue that there might be a Texan-Freihafener
synthesis. Texas has an embassy in Hauptstadt and a consulate in
Neu-Tsingtao, while Freihafen maintains an embassy in Austin and
has accredited its embassy to Heidelsheimat (Steinfurt) to the Texan
departmental government of Fredonia. Ukraine: Freihafener
relations with this “second wave” interstellar power were friendly
but distant until the Kafer attack on Aurore. This created a wave
of sympathy for the suffering Ukrainians of Novoa Kiyev, and also
encouraged the Ukrainian-Freihafener ethnie to take an active
role in lobbying for a Freihafener military commitment against the
Kafers. Relations between the two countries are good, though apart
from a common policy towards the Kafer they have little in common;
Ukraine maintains an embassy in Hauptstadt and a consulate in the
Nordost Garten capital of Crailsheim, while Freihafen is
represented in Kyiv. United Arab Republic:
Independent Freihafen has followed the Texan lead in remaining hostile
towards the UAR, largely out of a desire to cultivate a Texan alliance
but also out of sympathy with the Texans (and Heidelsheimaters,
who perceive a UAR threat from German armament contracts). The UAR,
for its part, is unhappy at Freihafener hostility and would like
to develop a trading relationship with the Tiranean state, but its
initiatives have been rebuffed. Finally, the expansion of Freihafener
influence outside of the Alpha Centauri trinary system has proceeded
apace. Already, after independence Freihafener-registered merchants
continued to trade with Earth, compensating for the loss of German
French Arm colonial markets by developing alternatives in trade with
Earth’s non-stutterwarp powers, as well as with French colonies at
Beowulf and Beta Canum. Freihafen’s connection with Heidelsheimat,
expanding trade and sending a Freiwehr mission to help train
and arm the Bayerische Heer (Heidelsheimat). It would take
the Kafer War, though, to help push Freihafen into a more active role
in astropolitical affairs. After the acrimonious
break between Freihafen and Germany, received opinion in
Freihafen held that slowly but surely, Freihafeners would
lose interest in the other Bavarian colonies. Certainly
there were substantial human and economic ties between the
French Arm colonies and Freihafen, but as the French Arm
colonies became integrated into a mercantilistic German
bloc and Freihafen concentrated on intra‑Tiranean
trade, these ties would gradually attenuate, and eventually
snap. Like other received opinions,
this was disproved by the Kafer War. The genocide committed
by the Kafers at Hochbaden in June 2301 was heavily covered
in the Freihafen media; almost twenty thousand holders of
Freihafener citizenship died during the relentless Kafer
campaigns there, and many Freihafener corporations with
investments at Hochbaden suffered heavy losses. Other Bavarian
colonies fell–Dunkelheim in June 2301, Beta Canum's Deutsche
Kontinent in February 2302–though thankfully with much lighter
loss of life and wealth than at Hochbaden. The effect
on Freihafener morale of the conquest of almost the entire
French Arm was shocking. When the Kafer fleet was finally
broken at the Battle of Beowulf on 12 July 2302, Freihafeners
were relieved; the specter of Kafer warships and soldiers
laying waste to Tirane was no longer an immediate threat.
In the wake of the Kafer
invasion, however, Freihafeners were quite concerned at
the humanitarian catastrophe on the French Arm. There was
a great deal of concern for the well‑being of the
roughly one million Freihafener expatriates living in the
French Arm beyond Neubayern, and indeed for the well‑being
of all the German colonists living in the affected areas,
Freihafener or non‑Freihafener, Bavarian or Hannoverian.
More than this, however, Freihafeners felt touched by the
sufferings of all human colonists on the French Arm,
and their need for aid: material goods to rebuild damaged
colonial economies, food and medicine to nourish medically
strained human populations, military aid to defend the colonies
against a second Kafer attack and to mop up remnant Kafer
forces on the ground and in space. For Freihafeners, the devastation
caused by the Kafer War provided both practical and moral reasons
for expanding their astropolitical role: Freihafen’s participation
in the military campaigns against the Kafer might full be the contribution
needed to ensure humanity’s survival, and the need to protect other
humans from death and suffering was a moral priority. By 2303, in
order to meet Freihafen’s commitments to its ally, Freihafener military
vehicles could be found in systems as distant from Alpha Centauri
as Eta Bootis and Rho Eridani, and Freihafener merchant ships were
almost as dispersed as their military counterparts.
Freihafeners are becoming increasingly
aware that their young nation-state counts in the wider scheme of
things. Industrialized and starfaring, Freihafen is beginning to make
notable contributions to the interstellar community. Freihafen’s active
interstellar policies are unformed as yet, but now anything seems
possible, from the foundation of Freihafener enclaves and colonies
(see SPACE) to a Freihafen-led
Klein Tirane. Now, in the first years of the 24th century,
anything seems possible. |