Second Colonial Age

The Second Colonial Age is a historical period as described by the Convention on Human Chronology that began in 2197 and ended in 2329.

As its name suggests, human development during this age was greatly influenced by the colonization opportunities presented by the advent of faster-than-light travel. Though the first FTL Engine was developed and successfully tested in 2171, the first practical extra-solar use of the engine was made in 2197, when a manned ship traveled from Earth to Catania in 57 days, landing on the planet on September 7. This is considered the beginning of the Second Colonial Age.

Colonization accelerated in the following decades. The abundance of resources brought by the spread of humanity into space triggered the biggest population boom ever recorded. The growing importance of extrasolar colonies gives rise to tension between these settlements and the Solar System, a struggle which will define the rest of human history up until the Third Colonial Age.

The United Worlds, correctly predicting the rise of a separatist movement, decided to reform the organization into the Stellar Federation through the second great reform, which aimed at complete equality between solar and extrasolar citizens, and representation for every planet, with a number of votes in the Federal Assembly proportional to their population. Terran nations were however given some minor privileges as member states, which fed separatist propaganda. Combined with the fact that 52 out of the 67 federal institutions were headquartered on Earth, and that the low population of the colonies effectively meant they had no control over decisions on colonial space law and jurisdiction, separatism grew uncontrollably. It is estimated that by 2250, 44% of the colonial adult population was involved with a separatist movement. The Federal Colonial System was instated through this same reform. It defined special statutes for colonies, and how colonies could access the status of core world in certain conditions, mainly to fight the phenomenon of flash-colonies. It was the first system of its kind, and was brought back in 2410 with the signing of the Treaty of Vienna in the form of the Republican Civilization Mission.

On Earth, the second great reform was opposed by many Terran supremacists and national-legacist parties. The figurehead of the opposition, American Governor Alan Hammer, led a policy of "diplomatic blackmail", slowly replacing all officials in the state of America with his United Terran Workers loyalists, and threatening the Federation with open rebellion if the changes were contested. The federal economy relied heavily on American aerostarports, and the American population was largely in support of Hammer's political stance, hence the federal government's decision to lead an appeasement policy towards America.

On April 13, 2250, a blockade on the governor's office of Nova Poltava by its colonists force the surrender of more than 200 federal agents and the governing body of the planet. Negotiations between a provisional independent Neo-Poltavan government and the Federation led to the release of all hostages in exchange for complete independence as of May 1, 2250.

In January 2265, executive order 740 moved all 11 federal institutions headquartered on American soil to other states, both on Earth and in the colonies. The decision gained the approval of the colonial population, and was seen in America as preparation for a future conflict. On April 15, 2265, supremacists, national-legacists and colonial separatist leaders met at the Washington Summit to discuss a potential political alliance against the reform and the federal constitution. The summit lasted 3 days, and resulted in the Washington Pact, an unstable alliance made up of the parties European Legacy, United Terran Workers, Warriors of Cairo, Committee for Equality, Frisan Single Party and the terrorist organisation Red Void.

The Frisan Single Party would go on to leave the Washington Pact and join the Independent Stellar Union to form the League for Colonial Independence in 2275.

By January 2266, the pression by the Washington Pact on the federal government leads to the first violent crackdowns on its members, through martial law in rebellious Terran states, and a raid on Red Void headquarters on Mars. In March, economic sanctions are voted against Frisa, as well as a free movement restriction to avoid rogue separatist groups from entering core space. Red Void retaliates by destroying the Andresen memorial monument in London on December 18, causing five deaths. The next day, martial law is declared all over federal space, and the leaders of the Washington Pact are arrested.